Candover Partners is to acquire DX Services for £349m, and will merge it with Secure Mail Services to create a combined mail delivery business with 1,840 staff. The offer consists of 415p a share and represents 12.6 times DX Services' EBITDA. Secure Mail Services (SMS) was purchased from Baring Private Equity for an undisclosed amount. The merger will create the UK's largest end-to-end service in the postal market and puts pressure on Royal Mail. The new company will handle 270 million items of mail per year and is expected to record an annual turnover of £175m. Candover managing director Marek Gumienny said: "We are looking forward to proceeding with the combination of the DX Services and Secure Mail Services businesses to create a competitive force in the UK mail delivery market."