Kerry Logistics Network Ltd., a logistics service provider in Asia, has increased its stake to 50 per cent for an undisclosed sum in Chennai-based Indev Logistics Pvt. Ltd., a top official said.
Indev will be re-named Kerry Indev Logistics Pvt. Ltd. Kerry Logistics held 30 per cent in Indev, is investing Rs.1,000 crore to build an information technology backbone, a chain of warehouses and cold storage facilities over the next two years, Indev Logistics Chairman S. Xavier Britto told The Hindu.
“For the last 32 years, Indev has been providing end-to-end shipping related services to its customers. We have taken this platform as we wanted to get into cold storage and 4PL (fourth party logistics). It needs huge investment. Kerry is a bigger player in Asia,” Mr. Britto said. “We were not willing to give a majority stake.”
Kerry Logistics India Pvt. Ltd., an international freight forwarding and supply chain management company and part of the global Kerry Network, will be merged with Kerry Indev in the next three to five months.
The increase in stake would take the total warehousing capacity to five million sq.ft., Mr. Britto said.
George Yeo, Chairman of Kerry Logistics, said in a statement: “Kerry logistics’ strength in providing customised supply chain solutions to different industries and Indev’s strong presence and network in India make Kerry-Indev a strong pan-Indian combination which, we hope, can make a contribution to the country’s growth and development.”
The company is currently building a 1,00,000 sq.ft. warehousing unit on a five-acre plot in Free Trade and Warehousing Zone, Mundra with a provision to expand it to 3,00,000 sq.ft.
Currently, it has a 1.25 lakh sq.ft. warehouse on a four-acre plot in Bengaluru and plans are on to bring Kerry’s express delivery (B2C) facility that exists in Taiwan, China and Bangkok.
A pilot project will be unveiled in Bengaluru soon, Mr. Britto said.
