Logistics unicorn Xpressbees acquires courier company TrackOn

Pune-based logistics service provider Xpressbees has acquired New Delhi-based courier company TrackOn, as it looks to tap the small and medium-sized enterprises sector through the latter's franchisee network.

The deal size of the all-cash transaction was not disclosed.

Launched in 2002, TrackOn, which has offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, claims to handle over 2 lakh consignments currently, serving over 5,000 pin codes. The firm turned profitable in FY22 with a profit of Rs 8.22 crore and an operating revenue of Rs 283 crore.

Xpressbees clocked a revenue of around Rs 2,000 crore in FY22. Its delivery operations are focused on ecommerce and it serves over 21,000 pin codes. 

The deal is expected to enable Xpressbees to expand its network into smaller towns, particulate across eastern India where TrackOn has a stronghold.

“It (the deal) will empower our respective businesses, change consumer experience for the better, and enable us to build significant synergies across the two organisations," said Amitava Saha, Founder and CEO, Xpressbees, in a statement.

“We will expand Trackon using our network and also look at cross-selling our existing services through the franchise network of Trackon,” Saha told The Economic Times.

"By combining our experience with the capabilities of Xpressbees we will be able to expand our service lines to our existing clients, while continuing to offer best-in-class services," said Prabhat Kumar Anand, Founder and CMD, Trackon, in the statement.

Xpressbees was last valued at $1.1 billion during its $300-million fundraise round led by private equity funds Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, and ChrysCapital, in February 2022. Existing investors Investcorp and Norwest Venture Partners also participated in the round.

The company recently closed a $40-million investment from Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the sovereign wealth fund of Malaysia, via a secondary purchase from its early investor Elevation capital. A Bloomberg report on August 4 said Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board is looking to pump in $100 million in Xpressbees.

The new-age logistics and supply chain unicorn competes with the likes of Delhivery and Ecom Express. 

Anand will continue to lead the Trackon business independently for at least the next two years, and there will be no change to the firm’s brand identity as part of the acquisition, according to the report by The Economic Times.  

The other three co-founders of Trackon, Pramod Kumar Singh, Dinesh Rautela and Yoginder Kumar Dabas, have resigned from the company and are moving on, the report added.