Geopost strike Indian deal with Continental Air Express
Geopost announced on 1 July its partnership with Continental Air Express to set up a joint venture firm offering express parcel services in India.
Geopost announced on 1 July its partnership with Continental Air Express to set up a joint venture firm offering express parcel services in India.
The JV ‘DPD Continental Pvt Ltd´, will receive an investment of €4.66m and offer its services in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata by year-end.
“We received the FIPB approval for investment of €2.8m in the business, which will be invested by Geopost, while the rest will be invested by Continental,” DPD Continental CEO Gautam Nath told reporters in Delhi.
While Geopost will hold 60% in the JV, the rest 40% will be with Continental Air, he added.
The investment would be used for setting up offices and streamlining operations.
“Our strategy globally has been to partner with airlines and fleet for delivery of packages and not investing heavily on assets. This is what we intend to follow in India,” Wolfgang Lehmacher, president and CEO, Geopost Intercontinental, a subsidiary of Geopost, said.
The JV firm will start operations in five cities and then extend its services to the other parts of the country. “We will begin by offering international parcel service and look at domestic service by the middle of next year,” Nath said.
DPD Continental will also hire about 200 people as we expands its operations, Nath said, adding, at present it has about 35 staff. The JV expects huge business to come from the exporters of textile, handicrafts and brass, he said.
