Third-party logistics firm Ceva Logistics on Monday said that it has agreed to acquire a 96% stake in private equity firm Warburg Pincus-backed logistics provider Stellar Value Chain Solutions.
However, the financial details of the transactions were not disclosed.
By way of this transaction, Warburg Pincus is set for a complete exit from its 2016 investment, wherein the firm had invested $125 million.
Ceva Logistics is set to acquire the 90% holding of Warburg Pincus, while the remaining 6% would be from other shareholders.
“With the addition of Stellar, we are expanding into more key market segments and improving our presence in this strategic country. Bringing on their expertise and footprint in India is a major step forward for Ceva Logistics,” said Mathieu Friedberg, chief executive officer, CEVA Logistics.
Founded in 2016 by Anshuman Singh, Stellar Value Chain provides multi-user warehousing, distribution, e-fulfilment and cold storage facilities to companies in the food and beverages, consumer goods, consumer durables, electronics, lifestyle, automotive, pharmaceuticals and engineering industries.
For Warburg, this exit comes after a few months since it clocked single-digit returns as it sold parts of its holding in the jewellery chain Kalyan Jewellers. According to VCCircle estimates, the exit translated into an internal rate of return (IRR) of around 6.5% to date and less than 2x multiple of invested capital (MOIC) over a nine-year period for Warburg.
Previously, the firm also completely exited from multiplex chain PVR. The PE firm also booked similar single-digit returns from PVR, making it a back-to-back poor exit moves in 2023. However, the PE firm fared much better in another exit move from Home First Finance in May.
