FedEx makes its first strategic investment in India, puts $100 million in Delhivery’s kitty

• The two companies will enter into a long-term commercial agreement following this transaction.
  
• FedEx will transfer certain assets pertaining to its domestic business in India to Delhivery.
  
• Don Colleran, President and CEO of FedEx Express will be nominated to join the Delhivery Board of Directors
  

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of the global logistics giant FedEx Corporation, has made a strategic investment of $100 million in Indian logistics startup Delhivery. This is FedEx’s first such strategic investment in an Indian company.


The two companies will enter into a long-term commercial agreement following this transaction that will allow FedEx to enter the Indian market and Delhivery to further expand its presence in the country. FedEx will transfer certain assets pertaining to its domestic business in India to Delhivery.


The transaction will allow FedEx Express to focus on international export and import services to and from India. Meanwhile, Delhivery will sell FedEx Express international products and services in the Indian market. The Delhi NCR-based company will also provide pickup and delivery services across India, the companies said in a joint statement.


“India is a strategic priority for FedEx. This strategic alliance will support our long-term vision to grow our India business and serve customers seeking to expand in or enter the Indian market, as well as provide opportunities to develop product and technology solutions together with Delhivery for the benefit of our customers” said Raj Subramaniam, president and chief operating officer of FedEx Corp.


Don Colleran, president and chief executive of FedEx Express will be nominated to join the Delhivery Board of Directors. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Abu Dhabi’s Chimera, and UK’s Baillie Gifford also participated in the new round, which valued the company at a whopping $3 billion.


Delhivery has raised somewhere around $1.24 billion to date, from marquee investors like SoftBank Vision Fund, Tiger Global Management, Times Internet, The Carlyle Group and Steadview Capital. It entered the unicorn club back in 2019, after raising $413 million from SoftBank and others.


The company was founded by Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati and Suraj Saharan in 2011, and is planning to go public by early 2021. Two of the company’s cofounders — Manglani and Tandon — decided to step away from the company, reportedly to meet regulatory requirements before starting their initial public offering (IPO) process.


Delhivery provides a full suite of logistics services such as warehousing and technology services, express parcel transportation, cross-border, reverse logistics. The company claims to have fulfilled more than 850 million transactions to date and works with over 10,000 direct customers.

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