*The company, in which IDFC PE is an investor, plans to use the IPO proceeds to build up its logistics business.* IDFC Private Equity-backed Delhi Assam Roadways Corp Ltd, one of India’s largest private sector transport and logistics companies in the full truck load segment, is looking at making a market debut with a public offering of Rs 150- 250 crore, a senior executive close to the development told VCCircle.
The company has also renamed itself as the Delhi Assam Roadways & Logistics Corp. Ltd effective from February this year. Confirming the development to VCCircle, Apoorva Kumar, Head Finance & Company Secretary said, though there is a plan to come out with an IPO, details on the amount to be raised and the timing of the IPO are still being worked out. The company will be discussing the IPO-related matters at its board meeting, scheduled to be held in a week. The interest from merchant bankers has been encouraging, he added. The company, promoted by Krishan Kumar Agarwal who is also the Chairman & Managing Director, has seen tonnage leap to 87.69 MT in FY09 from 27.64 MT in FY04. Its turnover last year turnover stood at Rs 1,085 crore. The company raised $10 million from IDFC Private Equity Fund II in 2007. On whether the infrastructure-focussed fund will look to exit in this IPO, Kumar said, the fund can look at paring exposure since the public issue "will in principle offer some room for the investor to look at a part exit". The company, which has 2,200 employees, is planning to use the IPO proceeds to expand its routes and also to build up its logistics business. According to a recent FE report, the company recently consolidated its business processes onto a single platform with SAP applications. This step was aimed at helping the company to cut its costs and improve efficiency in the already low-margin transport and logistics industry. The company claims to offer total logistics solutions for the customers based on their specific requirements ranging from trucking to multimodal transportation through its separate division 'TransRail', which is one of the 14 players licensed by Indian Railways to run container trains. Recently, Mumbai based Aqua Logistics hit the capital markets with a Rs 150-crore IPO. The issue price was fixed at Rs 220 per share and got subscribed 1.94 times. Traditionally, the sector has seen more of M&A kind of transactions on account of consolidation moves in the rather fragmented industry. According to VCCEdge, the financial research platform of VCCircle, some of the major deals seen in the space in the recent past are Infinite Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd. bought over by Transport Corporation of India Ltd., TM International Logistics Ltd. by Nippon Yusen Kaisha and Gateway Distriparks Ltd being bought over by Allcargo Global Logistics Ltd in 2009. -- Regards Hardik Shah -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en.
