July 11, 2023 – Ahold Delhaize is pleased to share that our local Dutch e-commerce brand, bol.com, and postal and parcel service, Cycloon, have announced today that they are strengthening their strategic partnership, with bol.com acquiring all shares in Cycloon. The parties jointly aim to accelerate Cycloon's growth and share the ambition to make delivery greener and more social. Currently, bol.com already holds a majority of shares in Cycloon. The transaction to acquire the remaining shares is expected to be completed by the end of July 2023.
When announcing the partnership in December 2021, both organizations stated that bol.com wanted to help Cycloon in its mission to substantially accelerate green and social delivery. In 2022, the transaction for bol.com's majority stake in Cycloon was completed. This created a future-proof position with strong growth opportunities in a competitive market. For bol.com, the partnership ensures that a higher proportion of parcels can be delivered by bicycle and that the online retail platform can offer customers the best service in delivery. In September 2022, Cycloon delivered the first bol.com parcel.
Optimal synergy
Cycloon, with its nationwide network of bicycle couriers and mail deliverers, delivers mail and parcels throughout the Netherlands for thousands of customers. Delivery by cargo bike is emission-free and keeps residential areas safe. Cycloon also employs hundreds of people with a (former) distance to the labor market.
It was initially planned that bol.com would acquire the remaining shares in Cycloon in 2026. The parties now have decided that they want to transfer all shares in Cycloon to bol.com in the short term. Intensifying the cooperation will enable Cycloon to scale up faster. This will optimize the synergy between the two organizations and enable bol.com and Cycloon to realize more impact in making delivery more sustainable and social. Cycloon will continue to exist as an independent brand, with its own executive board. Besides bol.com's parcels, Cycloon will also continue to deliver mail and parcels for other customers.
Key role for Cycloon
The current CEO of Cycloon, Marieke Snoek, has decided to hand over her position as CEO. She will take up another role in the executive board. The COO, Nick Vreeswijk, will hand over his activities to a new operations director. Within Cycloon, he will remain active in an important position in operations for the last mile of bicycle couriers. Marieke Snoek: "This is the logical next step for Cycloon. We started Cycloon because delivery can be done differently: more sustainable and more social. I am confident that with bol.com we will continue our social and sustainable mission and we will expand our social impact even further."
Vincent Weijers, COO of bol.com: "Moving towards a sustainable and socially responsible last mile is crucial for the future of e-commerce and we are working closely with all our carriers to achieve this. In this, we are continuously looking at how we can further reduce our CO2 emissions. And intensifying our cooperation with Cycloon plays an important role in this."
Conditions and process
The transaction is subject to customary conditions, including approval from the Dutch Consumer & Market Authority. The transaction is expected to be closed by the end of July 2023, provided all conditions are met.
