Aureos and ePlanet Ventures invest US$16 million in Indian Logistics Company

The Aureos India Fund and ePlanet Ventures have invested US$16 million in Indian container logistics and warehouse management services company Continental Warehousing Corporation (Nhava Seva) Limited (CWCNSL), part of the NDR Group.

The Aureos India Fund, an initiative of Aureos Capital, a private equity fund management company specialising in investing in small to mid-sized businesses in emerging markets, has invested US$10 million in CWCNSL. ePlanet Ventures, a leading global venture capital and private equity firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, has invested US$6 million.

 CWCNSL commenced its operations in the year 2005 and in the last year reported consolidated revenues of Rs.1.5 billion (US$ 31.5 million). The company manages container freight stations across India in Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Chennai, Tuticorin and Indore, with a total annual capacity of 170,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or standard containers.

 In addition CWCNSL also offers warehouse management solutions to leading retailers, telecom service providers and consumer durables industries through its wholly owned subsidiary Kaveri Warehousing Private Limited. The company also provides 3PL services to many of the leading fertilizer and cement companies.

 CWCNSL intends to use this investment to increase the number of Container Freight Stations it operates and to extend its warehouse management solutions business to offer a “Port to store” services including extensive transportation and cargo services

 Balaji Srinivas, Aureos Managing Partner for India, comments: “The rapid growth of the organised Indian retail sector means that there is now a growing demand for logistics services that can get goods from port to the shelves quickly and securely.”

 “Manufactures and retailers in India are now well aware of the efficiencies that they can reap from more effective supply chain management and we believe that CWCNSL’s management team has the vision, capacity and expertise to respond to the evolving needs of this growth market.”

 Asad Jamal, of ePlanet Ventures, says: ““We are very excited to invest in Continental Warehousing Corporation (Nhava Seva) Limited as we believe in the company’s growth prospects. The investment further widened the breadth of ePlanet Venture’s substantial experience in the technology and the traditional sector, and we intend to leverage on our global expertise to help CWCNSL grow significantly ”

Chandrasekar Kandasamy of ePlanet Ventures adds: “We are delighted to invest in CWCNSL which is in the high growth logistics space. India is witnessing strong economic growth with significant improvements in infrastructure and CWCNSL is ideally positioned to be part of this growth sector.”

Mr. N.Adikesavalu Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director of CWCNSL, comments: “With the active support of global investors the company expects to scale up rapidly in the coming years. We are delighted to have attracted the backing of Aureos, ePlanet Ventures and ILFS .”

 As part of the investment Balaji Srinivas of Aureos and Chandrasekar Kandasamy of ePlanet will join CWCNSL’s Board of Directors. 

AUREOS CAPITAL LTD

Aureos Capital Ltd is a private equity fund management company which specialises in providing expansion and buy-out capital to unlisted mid-cap businesses across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Since its establishment in 2001, Aureos has increased its funds under management to over US$ 1 billion and extended its geographical footprint to over 50 emerging markets covering Asia, Africa and Latin America, by establishing 15 regional private equity funds.

 Investors in Aureos funds include institutional investors, bilateral and multilateral development finance institutions, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, fund of funds, family offices and foundations and high net worth individuals.

ABOUT EPLANET VENTURES

ePlanet Ventures is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, with international offices in London, Bangalore, Seoul and Beijing, as well as a presence in Hong Kong and Tokyo. ePlanet Ventures has funded over 80 innovative high-growth companies world-wide, including landmark deals Baidu (NASDAQ listing in August 2005), Skype (sold to eBay for approx. US$3B in 2005), and Focus Media (NASDAQ listing 2005).

 ePlanet is one of the leaders in promoting the cross-border migration of technological innovation, business models and entrepreneurship. The Firm has made investments in sectors such as the Internet (consumer Internet, Internet services and applications), wireless communications and applications, VoIP and other broadband services, entertainment, semiconductor design, life sciences and other emerging services sectors.

 ePlanet also seeks to make investments in traditional, established industries where business-model improvements have the power to create category-dominant companies in the world's fastest growing markets. The firm has won the China Venture Capital Association Exit of the Year 2005 for Baidu, and the European Venture Capital Association Deal of the Year 2005 Award for Skype, and has been profiled in FORBES Feb 2008 amongst the Top 10 global venture capital investors.