Logistics company Western Carriers, which went public last month, will focus on adding new customers and enhancing capability across sectors and geographies as part of its new growth strategies.
Post the ₹493-crore initial public offer, the Kolkata-based company’s shares were listed on September 24. The IPO included a fresh issue of equity shares and an offer for sale by promoter Rajendra Sethia. The company proposes to deploy the proceeds from the fresh issue towards prepayment or scheduled repayment of a portion of outstanding borrowings, funding capital expenditure requirements, and general corporate purposes.
“Total deployment from IPO proceeds is ₹151.71 crore over the current and next two fiscals. Capex is planned for a mix of commercial vehicles, 40-ft and 20-ft containers, and reach stackers,” Kanishka Sethia, Director and CEO, Western Carriers (India), says.
The company has several years of experience in road, rail and sea/river multimodal movement of domestic and export-import cargo. It has long-standing relationships with customers across varied business sectors such as metals, FMCG, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering, oil and gas, and retail.
On the company’s future growth strategies, Sethia says, “We aim to add new customers as well as mine deeper with existing clients, including for value-added services across sectors and geographies. We will also continue to focus on improving margins.”
The company has an asset-light model for multimodal logistics, as it owns over 500 shipping containers, over 400 GPS-enabled heavy commercial vehicles, and over 100 pieces of heavy equipment; it does not own any private freight terminals or railway flat, wagons or rakes. It outsources its rail requirement from container train operators, as per client requirements.
“We are focused on remaining asset-light, buying only those needed for running our supply chains efficiently, especially focusing on replacing our existing equipment in a timely manner,” Sethia says.
Western Carriers was recently selected as the sole supply chain partner for in-plant logistics and container rake transportation for Tata Steel’s sponge iron plant in Joda, Odisha, for a three-year period.
This order covers transportation of both loose and bagged direct reduced iron.