Express Firm SF Holding is set to acquire a majority stake in Robert Kuok’s Kerry Logistics to expand its global supply chain reach.
The deal is valued at HK$17.6 billion ($2.3 billion) where SF Holding will take hold of 51.8% stake in Kerry Logistics. Both the companies will also collaborate in Greater China to align their businesses.
In a statement, the chairman of SF Holdings said to believe in forming alliances beneficial for the company’s competitiveness in the future. Both SF and Kerry Logistics had been in talks for three years and the recent competitive environment and international situation accelerated negotiations, he added.
Kerry Logistics chairman, Kuok Khoon Hua finds the deal to have “a lot of strength and synergy” and is looking forward to taking advantage of expanding in mainland China. After the deal, Kerry Logistics’s holding in the logistics firm will be slashed to 20% from 40%.
Kerry Logistics will sell its Taiwan business for NT$4.5 billion and some of its warehouse assets for HK$13.5 billion to its parent company, Kerry Properties.
Soon after the trading resumed, shares in SF Holding saw a rise by 10% limit in Shenzhen, whereas Kerry Logistics jumped 10.5% in Hong Kong with the parent company reaching 19%, its biggest intraday advance since May 2009.
