New acquisition in the logistics sector: Citibox acquires Celeritas
Strategic Move in the Logistics Field. Citibox Smart Services, a company specializing in smart mailbox solutions, has acquired all shares of Celeritas, one of the leading networks of pickup and delivery points dedicated to e-commerce in our country.
This agreement, which has been in progress since mid-2022, is reported to have been closed at a figure exceeding 20 million euros, according to sources close to the situation accessed by Ecommerce News.
This transaction marks the third change of ownership for the company since its founding in 2006 by Aitor Ojanguren and Antonio García. The first took place in September 2012 when SGEL (Sociedad General Española de Librería), a subsidiary of the Lagardère Services group, acquired the company with the aim of strengthening its presence in the strategic e-commerce sector. Subsequently, in October 2015, Springwater Capital acquired all of SGEL.
Since this last acquisition, both the sector in our country and Celeritas have experienced significant growth. The company has increased its sales from 10 million euros in 2016 to a turnover of 60 million euros in 2022.
Citibox’s goal is to establish a conglomerate that can provide a complete range of services for e-commerce, covering both the B2C and B2B spheres. The company is said to have explored the possibility of collaborating with some of the independent courier services that still operate in the national market and are not part of a larger network.
Who is Citibox?
Citibox is a company focused on sustainable logistics for e-commerce. Founded in 2015 by David Bernabéu, it has become one of the leading networks of smart mailboxes installed in residential communities.
Citibox raised 11 million euros in its Series A funding round in 2019, with notable investors such as Santiago Fernández Valbuena (former CFO of Telefónica and current co-owner of Banco EBN), José Manuel Martínez (owner of Corporación HMS), José Luis Gilpérez (former CEO of Telefónica Spain), Javier Rubio (founder of Nauta Capital and Galdana Ventures), Bernardo Hernández (founder of Idealista), and Richard Alden (former CEO of ONO), who currently serves as the chairman of Citibox. In total, Citibox has secured over 45 million euros in investments.
Currently, Citibox has installed more than 40,000 smart mailboxes serving nearly 450,000 people in the Community of Madrid and Catalonia, having managed the delivery of 3.4 million packages.
