Kerry Logistics to invests Rs 1,000 crore in Indev Logistics for 50% stake

Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics Network Limited (Kerry Logistics) has acquired 50 per cent stake Indev Logistics Pvt. Ltd. (Indev), a Chennai-based logistics company. The stake value is estimated to be around Rs 1,000 crore. By 2018, the company is also planning to list in the Indian markets.

Indev will be rebranded as Kerry-Indev, reflecting Kerry Logistics' growing capabilities and ambition to become a major pan-Indian logistics company with India Focus and member of a China Specialist Global Network, said S Xavier Britto, chairman of Kerry-Indev Logistics.

While he refused to share the details of Kerry Logistics investment, sources close to the company said the value of the 50 per cent stake is estimated to be around Rs 1,000 crore.

Indev will become the key member of Kerry logistics network in India. Kerry has the expertise in supply chain management and will benefit Indev in India, said Britto.

He added, Kerry Logistics technology, its experience in express delivery (for parcels), cold storage and other factor will help the Indian operations. Besides, now Indian operations will be able to use Kerry's global operations, infrastructure and customers.

Britto said Kerry Logistics is operating around 45 million sq ft in Asia alone.

Indev is currently building a Warehousing unit in FTWZ, Mundra and is planning to venture into cold storage and will expand its Warehousing capacity to 5 Million Sq Ft. by 2018. The company which is planning to double its revenue to around Rs 2,500-3,000 crore by 2018 is also planning to go public by 2018.

The expansion plans also include acquiring last mile delivery capabilities to serve the growing e-commerce market including Express Services, said sources.

"India has become one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. We see the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the current campaign to Make in India as being very positive for the quantitative and qualitative expansion of the logistics industry," said Britto.