TNT today announced the acquisition of ARC India Limited which operates under the trade nameSpeedage Express Cargo Services, one of the leading road express companies in India. The Dutch
group announced in February this year that it would invest €100 million in India over the next fiveyears with the aim of overtaking DHL as market leader.The acquisition is a key component of TNT’s Focus on Networks strategy, TNT said in astatement. Acquiring Speedage is in line with TNT’s strategic objective to become the leadingprovider of express deliveries in the emerging markets in Asia, specifically India. CombiningSpeedage’s strong domestic road network with TNT’s international and domestic networks will form apowerful platform for further expansion in the fast growing Indian express market, TNT said.
Founded in 1995 and with an annual profitable turnover of €17 million in FY 2005 / 06,Speedage has a strong and impressive list of customers, which includes global players, large andmedium sized companies. TNT said the acquisition will add 514 depots, 26 transit hubs, 730 vehiclesand 1,195 employees (and approx. 1,300 sub-contracted staff) to TNT’s existing resources enablingTNT to offer a comprehensive network covering all parts of India. Speedage claims 12% of thedomestic road parcel market.
Peter Bakker, Chief Executive Officer of TNT, said: “We are pleased to announce anotherexcellent step in the implementation of our Focus on Networks strategy today. TNT will gain a topthree position in the fast growing Indian domestic road express market with the acquisition ofSpeedage. The combined revenues for TNT in India after this acquisition will be approaching € 100million in 2007. We believe that the combination of Speedage road based capabilities with TNT’sinternational express operations will form the first integrated and strongest network available inIndia. Furthermore, it clearly complements our network strategy in Asia.”
Marie-Christine Lombard, Group Managing Director of TNT’s Express division, added: “The roadbased Express segment is projected to more than quadruple in the coming decade. Furthermore, thesustainable economic growth in India, major government investments in infrastructure and anopportunity to leverage on Europe being the largest trade partner with India, should support us toreach our objective to become the market leader in Express in India by 2010.”
Abhik Mitra, Managing Director, TNT India, commented: “Speedage is a result-oriented companythat has established a substantial network in India. With a 60% growth in its revenue over the pastyear, it is one of the fastest growing companies in the road express industry. This acquisitionwill allow TNT to extend the integrated air and road products spanning across ‘time critical’, ‘daydefinite’ and special services to a broad range of customers.”
In February, TNT announced the launch of domestic express services within India to complementits existing international air express services to and from the country. Its domestic air productscover Sameday, Time Definite and Day Definite delivery while domestic road express services weredue to start by mid-March 2006. Claiming to have a 28% market share already, TNT said it would bethe first international express company to provide integrated domestic and international servicesunder one brand. In a presentation accompanying the Speedage announcement, TNT said it already hasover 100 depots, three major road hubs, over 1,000 vehicles and over 1,000 staff in India.
