Asia Climate Partners to invest in ColdEX Logistics, India's leading cold chain logistic company; exit for India Equity Partners

ColdEX Logistics Private Limited, India’s leading cold chain logistic company announced today that it has executed an investment agreement with Asia Climate Partners, a leading private equity fund backed by the Asian Development Bank and ORIX Corporation of Japan.  Asia Climate Partners shall also purchase the existing stake held by India Equity Partners. With Asia Climate Partners coming on board, this would be the second round of institutional investment in the company.

ColdEX is one of the largest cold chain logistics companies in India providing end-to-end cold chain services to leading domestic and international companies. ColdEX provides temperature controlled primary and secondary transportation services, warehousing and even last mile delivery services for food to customers.  ColdEX owns the largest fleet of over 850 reefer trucks in India that operate out of 55 branches, six distribution centers and has over 1500 employees.
ColdEX plans to add new cold-chain warehousing capacity of 50,000 pallets in the next three years with a capital outlay of INR 250 crores.  The funds raised from Asia Climate Partners will help establish a pan-India footprint for its warehouses in addition to its transportation network.  ColdEX’s customers include the likes of Cadbury, Burger King, Yum brands, Starbucks, Amul, among others.

Commenting on the transaction, Gaurav Jain, Founder & Managing Director of ColdEX, said, “We are excited about the investment by ACP and value their association as our long term partner. This investment will enable ColdEX to ramp up capacity and achieve our vision of becoming a total cold chain solution provider to our customers by building world class infrastructure and an affordable and reliable supply chain.”

Mr. Anand Prakash, Managing Director of Asia Climate Partners said, “ColdEX is the largest and fastest growing private company in the cold chain logistics space and we are very excited to become a part of its journey.  We see tremendous potential in both the Company and the cold chain logistics sector in helping improve resource efficiency and reduce food wastage in India.  ACP will bring its institutional support to help the Company build a pan-India presence and provide a total solution to its customers”.

Commenting on the transaction, Sunil Nair, CEO, ColdEX Logistics, said, " There is a growing demand for perishable foods such as fruits & vegetables and frozen foods such as Meat, Fish & Seafood etc. The need for cold chain is emerging in India and the industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~28% over the next 4 years and reach a market size of ~USD 13 Bn in 2017. Thereby, presenting a great opportunity. The association with ACP will enable us to implement our strategy on ground and become the number one player in India.