NHS courier CitySprint could go up for sale

AN investment company backed by Lloyds is reviving plans to sell one of Britain’s biggest same-day courier businesses for £250 million.

City sources said Lloyds Development Capital, a division of FTSE 100-listed bank Lloyds, is once again looking at whether to offload CitySprint, which delivers drugs and PPE for the NHS.

Two years ago, Lloyds Development Capital appointed corporate finance advisers from Raymond James to carry out a strategic review of City Sprint, but it ultimately decided against a sale.

Sources said one of t he potential buyers for CitySprint may be logistics group Menzies Distribution, but insiders poured cold water on t he prospects of a deal between the two companies, suggesting talks weren’t taking place.

Menzies recently appointed former Asda chief executive Andy Clarke as chairman and is owned by the investment firm Endless.

Past reports also suggested that CitySprint might be of interest to companies such as Royal Mail.

Lloyds Development Capital bought CitySprint from rival buy-out firm Dunedin in 2016 for £175 million. The firm has been growing through a series of acquisitions, including Heathrow Baggage Services.

Lloyds Development Capital and CitySprint both declined to comment. Endless didn’t return calls for comment.