An Post is believed to have paid more than £11 million (€14 million) for two transport firms it acquired yesterday.

JMC Van Trans and Wheels Courier specialise in same-day delivery of documents and parcels in Dublin. The companies, which had combined revenues last year of £7.5 million, will operate independently within the State postal company.

The major beneficiaries of yesterday's acquisition are the joint managing directors of JMC Van Trans, Mr John McCluskey and Mr Garret Murphy. They held 40 per cent each of the company, which had revenues last year of £6 million. JMC's financial controller, Mr Seamus Tighe, held 20 per cent.

Mr McCluskey and Mr Murphy also owned 25 per cent each of Wheels Couriers, stakes they acquired in 1992. The company had revenues last year of £1.5 million.

Its other large shareholders were Ms Bernadette Kinsella, who held 22 per cent, and Mr Mark English, who held 5 per cent.

An Post said the deal would give it immediate access to a business in which it was not already involved.

This is important because the company faces competition in its traditional mail business from 2003 and, increasingly, from same-day couriers.

Some of An Post's competitors in the parcels business are expected to enter the mail business after 2003.

In a statement yesterday, An Post's chief executive, Mr John Hynes, said the companies purchased were "well-managed, growing and profitable".

Earlier this year, Mr Hynes described An Post's profit margins as "completely inadequate". It has initiated a transformation programme linked to a shareholding package for its staff.

The company is also seeking to enter a strategic alliance with a major European operator. But, while the Government gave it approval last December to seek a partnership, it has yet to conclude a deal.

Mr Hynes has rated the company's chances of securing a partner as a 50:50 possibility. Its alternative, he has said, is to go it alone for the short-to-medium term.

JMC Van Trans is based in the Merrywell business park in west Dublin and Wheels Courier is based in central Dublin.

Mr McCluskey, a former van driver, set up JMC Transport in 1986. It merged with Mr Murphy's company, Van Trans, in 1990.

The companies have regional agents in Waterford, Cork, Killarney, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Letterkenny and Belfast. About 50 people are directly employed by the two companies. This is in addition to 167 owner-drivers who have full-time subcontracts with JMC Van Trans and Wheels.