The parcel delivery company Yodel was saved from bankruptcy overnight by its competitor Shift.

Shift executives, including founder Jacob Corlett, this morning formed a new company called YDLGP with merchant bank Solano Partners to acquire Yodel.

Last week it was reported that Yodel was preparing to file for bankruptcy, putting over 10,000 jobs in the UK at risk.

The company, which is owned by the Barclay family, had reportedly called in insolvency specialist Teneo to prevent the company from collapsing completely.

In addition, Yodel has accelerated its plans to find a buyer, with Cheshire-based The Delivery Group among the parties seeking the takeover.

YDLGP is also expected to acquire Shift, which will result in the two companies jointly operating what Yodel described as a “super-scale” logistics platform. The two companies have been in talks since the middle of last year.

Yodel works with retailers such as JD Sports and Argos and has added clients such as eBay in the last year. The company processes over 190 million deliveries each year.

This weekend it was reported that Evri’s private equity owners are preparing a £2 billion sale of the company, which would lead to further consolidation within the industry.

Royal Mail is also aiming for expansion and at the end of last year considered a takeover offer for the Czech parcel giant Packeta.

Mike Hancox, CEO of Yodel, told Sky News: “We are extremely excited to begin the next chapter of Yodel’s journey, leveraging the scale of our business with the support of new shareholders and the future benefits of the Shift technology platform.

“Our customers have always been our top priority and the transaction announced today enables us to ensure continuity for them as well as for our employees and other stakeholders.”

Shift, founded by Corlett, had previously acquired Movinga as part of its expansion, and last year it also acquired and relaunched Tuffnells.

Corlett told City AM in an interview three years ago that the company’s asset-light model gave it the opportunity to use revolutionary AI technology to speed up deliveries.