Gateway Distriparks Ltd (GDL) has roped in a new investor – Norwest Venture Partners (Mauritius) – in its cold chain subsidiary, Snowman Logistics Ltd. The deal involves an equity dilution by existing shareholders.
Gateway said on Friday it had executed share subscription agreements for Snowman with private equity firm Norwest, IFC and three Japanese companies – Mitsubishi Corp, Mitsubishi Logistic Corp and Nicheri Logistics Group Inc.
The deal was executed in two stages. First, Gateway bought a five per cent stake of IFC in Snowman for Rs 18 crore. Norwest then paid Rs 60 crore for a 14.3 per cent stake in the company. This leg of the deal was through a proportionate dilution of stakes by the three existing shareholder groups – Gateway, the Japanese entities and IFC.
Majority holding
Gateway has maintained its majority holding in Snowman post all transactions, company sources told
Following the deal, Gateway’s stake in the subsidiary has come down from 54 per cent to 51.5 per cent. Mitsubishi and Nicheri now hold a total of 22 per cent, down from the previous 26.1 per cent. IFC’s dilution has seen its holding drop to 12.5 per cent from 19.9 per cent.
Snowman, an unlisted entity, provides temperature-controlled storage and transportation solutions to the dairy products, ice creams, processed food, sea-food and poultry and meat sectors.
HDFC Bank had been the sole advisor for the transactions.
The Gateway stock fluctuated after the disclosures. “There was confusion about the final impact of the deals on Gateway.
Selling bouts saw the share price move downwards during the mid-session,” said a dealer.
Finally, the stock closed up around three per cent at Rs 119.1 on the NSE with 1.91 lakh shares changing hands.