Tata Motors to acquire 27% stake in Freight Commerce for Rs 150 crore

Tata Motors and Freight Commerce Solutions Private Limited (Freight Tiger) on Thursday signed a securities subscription agreement (SSA) and a shareholders agreement (SHA) for the acquisition of 26.79 per cent stake in 'Freight Tiger' for a consideration of Rs 150 crore, said the company in a BSE filing.

The SSA also includes a provision enabling Tata Motors to further invest Rs 100 crore over the next two years at the then prevailing market value, it said.

'Freight Tiger' is a digital platform that provides end-to-end logistics value chain solutions for cargo movement in the country.

The platform connects shippers, carriers, logistics service providers and fleet owners to a single digital marketplace, making it easy to find, book and manage freight whilst offering a variety of software as a service (SaaS) solutions to digitise and streamline logistics interactions such as freight tracking, assignment, carrier matching, documentation, and payment processing.

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The platform also facilitates more than 10 million trips annually and has been successfully integrating and ironing out inefficiencies in cargo movements over the last seven years.

Tata Motors has already introduced its connected vehicle platform' Fleet Edge' for aiding fleet operations management.

Tata Motors' strategic investment in 'Freight Tiger' will accelerate the company's initiatives in driving effectiveness and efficiency in the truck and freight ecosystem. Together, these innovative solutions ('Fleet Edge' and 'Freight Tiger') aspire to forge a comprehensive end-to-end digital ecosystem for the entire logistics value chain, covering both the truck and the trip ecosystem thereby bringing significant benefits to shippers, brokers and transporters who keep India moving.

Speaking on the development, Girish Wagh, Executive Director of Tata Motors Ltd said, "At Tata Motors, we are committed to transforming the road logistics industry with our innovative solutions and services. We believe that by playing a larger and deeper role in bringing all the stakeholders together to improve road logistics efficiency, we can create value for our core customers: the fleet owners. Hence, we are excited to announce our partnership with Freight Tiger, a pioneer in digitising the logistics industry."

"Their vision is aligned with ours, as we strive to improve the efficiency and sustainability of road logistics. Together, we will create new opportunities for growth and value creation for our customers, partners and stakeholders," Girish Wagh further said.

Swapnil Shah, Founder & CEO of 'Freight Tiger', added, "Software- led approaches are the lever to transform existing industry assets and supercharge them to work more efficiently for all stakeholders. We do this by building trust and facilitating collaboration across the logistics value chain."

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"We are excited to have Tata motors as a strategic investor who shares our belief and vision to build a unified national platform at an unprecedented scale. With such incredible backing and expertise, the company is strategically positioned to lead India's efforts in reducing logistics costs to under 10 per cent of GDP from over 14 per cent," Shah added.