YTO Cargo Airlines (YG, Hangzhou) parent firm YTO Express has completed its entry onto the Shanghai stock market following a merger with the already listed garment manufacturer Dayang Group.
Given the country's enormous market potential, China's logistics firms are all turning to public listings as a means of shoring up urgently needed investment capital. YTO Express's rival and Alibaba Group affiliate ZTO Express Co., submitted a filing for a USD1.5 billion IPO on the New York Stock Exchange last month. As such, the newly merged YTO Express Co.'s market value has been set at CNY97.5 billion yuan (USD14.4 billion) of which YTO's founders, Yu Weijiao and his wife, own 51%.
Speaking at a media conference to mark occasion last week, Yu said the move would open the Chinese logistics giant to new investment opportunities thus allowing it to expand into new markets such as Europe and North America.
As part of its future plans, Yu said YTO Express Airlines will develop hubs in Beijing Capital, Guangzhou, Chengdu Shuangliu, and even in Jiaxing where a new international airport will be built next year.
For its part, YTO Express Airlines currently operates five B737-300(F)s on regular freight flights across China. It also has up to fifteen B737-800BCFs on order from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) (of which ten are firm) and has also been linked to a trio of widebody freighters. In the medium-term, it plans to reach a fleet of fifty aircraft.
