SingPost acquires 30% stake in Vietnamese logistics firm ITL
Singapore Post (SingPost) has bought a 30% stake in Vietnam-based Trans Logistics Corporation (ITL) as it looks to gain a foothold in the South East Asian country. The deal – which is worth US$180m – was struck through SingPost’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Singapore Post Enterprise Private Limited (SPE).
ITL offers integrated logistics solutions with businesses in air and sea freight forwarding, third-party logistics solutions and distribution, and general sales agency for airlines.
The company, which has offices across key cities in Vietnam, has been in operation since 1999.
Commenting on the news, Dr Wolfgang Baier, SingPost’s CEO International, said: “I am excited with this strategic investment in ITL which gives us a foothold into Vietnam and the Indo-China region which are emerging markets with significant logistics and related opportunities.”
“SingPost has stepped up its efforts to transform and grow and we have been actively pursuing growth beyond our mail business and expanding into the region. We want to grow our overseas revenue and achieve a more balanced portfolio with bigger contributions from non-mail businesses. Clearly, our key growth drivers will be in the areas of logistics and e-commerce.”
Since embarking on its growth strategy, SingPost has made “several major acquisitions in a bid to diversify its revenue base and expand its business beyond Singapore shores”.
These include mail-logistics solutions provider Quantium Solutions, which operates out of ten countries in the AsPac region, and hybrid mail business DataPost.
The operator also made a 27.08% investment in GDEX Express Carrier Berhad, a leading express carrier service provider in Malaysia.
Furthermore, SingPost took a 30% stake in postal technology company Postea back in 2009.
