DX Group has acquired The Legal Post (Scotland) and First Post from First Scottish Group for £3.25m, in a move that consolidates the legal document exchange market in Scotland.

Together, the two acquired businesses had a turnover of £5.2m for the year ending May 2015, generating a £600,000 profit.

For the year-ending 30 June 2015 DX Group had a turnover of £297.5m and a pre-tax profit of £26.7m.

Legal Post provides a document exchange and postal service in Scotland, delivering legal documentation while First Post operates a downstream access mail service in Scotland as an alternative to Royal Mail’s first and second class services.

Combining the business with DX Exchange – DX’s own document exchange service – gives the offering coverage across the entire of the UK and Republic of Ireland, as well as DX having access to Legal Post and Scottish Post’s earlier delivery times.

Speaking to Motortransport.co.uk, DX Group chief financial officer Ian Pain said the acquisition was complementary to its existing DX Exchange service in Scotland. He added that by consolidating the two services DX would see significant cost savings.

“It makes complete sense for the businesses to come together. It reduces some of the cost base,” he said, adding that DX anticipated it would double its profit in the acquired business as a result.  “By combining the routes and taking out some of the routes we should be looking at £1.2m.”

Pain also said he was bullish on the future of paper-based legal document post and exchange services, as it was a market that continued to be dependant on such services.

Legal Post and First Post’s operations in Fife will be transferred to DX’s facility in Livingston in the coming months, with Pain anticipating few job losses as a result.

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