Mahindra freight forward has global buys on radar

Mahindra Logistics has set sights on global acquisitions in the freight forwarding space as it is currently negotiating with several South East Asian companies. CEO Priojshaw Sarkari said that the acquisitions will happen over the next six months with an investment of $50-75 million. The company is also open to joint ventures, however, the prime requirement will be a large market presence across the entire South East Asia including Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. Acquisitions are likely to be funded by "leveraging the balance sheet". The company prefers to go for freight forwarding companies that have a larger market presence across South East Asian markets. Sources say that Mahindra Logistics gets higher margins from warehousing business as compared to transportation. Accordingly, it plans to add at least two million sqft of warehouse space this fiscal to its present 15 m sqft across India. Mahindra Logisitics will play the role of an "anchor customer" of several companies that are floating REITs. This means that it will take up large warehousing spaces as it has done in Chakan, near Pune and in Tauru Road in Gurgaon with nearly 500,000 sq ft of space across these areas.