Snowman Frozen Foods Ltd, a logistics company serving the frozen and chilled foods market, is seeking to raise around $5 million from International Finance Corp (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank. Snowman is a joint venture between Gateway Distriparks Ltd (Singapore), and Japanese firms Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Logistics Corporation and Nichirei Logistics Group Inc.
The Bangalore-based firm has chalked out a capital expenditure plan of $20 million, and IFC will invest $5 million (~Rs 25 crore) for an equity stake. The company is spread across 16 locations and major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, etc. The firm has also expanded to cities like Ahmedabad and Nagpur recently. Snowman has a fleet of over 75 reefer vehicles.
Snowman was promoted by Amalgam group in 1997 and Mitsubishi Corp, Mitsubishi Logistics and Nichirei Logistics Group acquired a significant stake in the firm. Gateway Distriparks acquired close to a 50% stake in 2006 and now has the management control. Several private equity firms in India have expressed interest in cold-chain storage and logistics companies.
Gateway Distriparks is a listed company engaged in container freight stations (CFS) and inland container depot (ICD) operations. The company has a market capitalisation of around Rs 10 billion.
