Gateway Distriparks completes buyout of Blackstone stake for Rs 850 crore

Logistics major Gateway Distriparks Limited (GDL) on Monday announced it has completed the acquisition of the entire stake held by private equity Blackstone in its subsidiary for Rs 850 crore.

GDL has also acquired shares from the management of Gateway Rail Freight Limited. "With this, GDL shareholding in the company on a fully diluted basis is now 99.93 per cent," according to an official statement.

"Blackstone, GDL, and Gateway Rail have mutually agreed to terminate the arbitration proceedings initiated in December 2018. This buyout completes Blackstone's exit from its investment in Gateway Rail," it said.

Chairman and Managing Director Prem Kishan Gupta said the GDL Group can harness synergy between container freight stations, inland container depots, and rail transportation businesses to offer integrated services through 12 locations in a pan-India network.

"There will be a benefit through consolidation and allow the companies to enter into a global service contract with major shipping lines and non-vessel owning common carriers to help improve realisations and growth in volume," he said.

GDL Group is an integrated inter-modal logistics service provider having three verticals. It operates container freight stations in Nhava Sheva, Chennai, Vizag, Kochi, and Krishnapatnam.

Gateway Rail, the country's largest private intermodal operator, provides rail transport service through its inland container depots at Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad and a domestic container terminal at Navi Mumbai.

GDL and Gateway Rail together have a capacity to handle 2.1 million TEUs (20-feet equivalent units) per year and warehousing space of 1.73 million square feet across its 12 container terminals.

Snowman Logistics, its third vertical, is India's leading cold chain logistics company with the presence at 31 locations in 15 cities.