TVS Logistics Services Ltd, part of $5 billion group T V Sundram Iyengar & Sons (TVS) has raised Rs 100 crore through private equity (PE) to support its expansion plan and to reach its target of Rs 1,000 crore turnover by the year 2010. It may be noted, this is the first time PE investment has been made in a TVS Group company. Goldman Sachs, a global investment banking and securities firm, has invested Rs 100 crore for a significant minority stake to support TVS Logistics growth plans which include expansion, increasing its investment in joint ventures (JVs)and for acquisition opportunities. Meanwhile, TVS Logistics recently taken a 50 per cent stake in Mumbai-based Greenarches and renamed the company as TVS Infrastructure. The company proposed to invest Rs 500 crore to build logistics parks by itself and through special purpose vehicles (SPV), said R Dinesh, director, TVS Logistics Services. He added, the company already owns 20 acres of land in Pune and 10 acres in Chennai, with plans to build up land banks of around 200 acres in centres of automotive in places like Hosur, Gurgaon, Halol, Lucknow, Singur, Uttarakhand and Indore. TVS Dynamic Global Freight Services a new company which was formed recently by TVS Logistics Services and Dynamic Freight Forwarding Service has combined the freight forwarding business of both the entities. TVS has 75 per cent in the newly formed company. The company will focus on auto and non-auto segment and is expected to reach Rs 250 crore turnover in the next three years, he added. Suresh Krishna, CMD, Sundram Fasteners Ltd said that TVS Logistics is planning to enter finished goods transportation after forming a joint venture and through merger and acquisitions. These JVs are expected to contribute around Rs 100 crore during this fiscal. He added, TVS Logistics Services recently entered into commutation solutions for corporate staff transportation and has plans to expand its current fleet strength from 200 buses to 1,000 buses within next two years. As on on March 31, TVS Logistics and its joint ventures turnover was around Rs 340 crore. Domestic business contributed Rs 240 crore, while its global business contributed Rs 100 crore.
