MODERN Logistics (WD, São Paulo Viracopos) is looking to raise up to USD200 million fresh capital as it looks to grow its Brazilian market presence.
In a press release, the carrier's chief executive Gerald Lee said the logistics specialist enlisted the help of investment bank Evercore Inc. during autumn 2018 to search for new investors.
The funds would be used to expand the firm's fleet beyond the current two B737-300(F)s and two B737-400(F)s and to build additional distribution centres, which in turn will enable it to tap new customers.
Based in Jundiaí, in Brazil's São Paulo state, Modern Logistics provides storage management, distribution, and air-and-land transportation services to Brazilian businesses operating in sectors such as agribusiness, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and smartphone manufacturing.
Private-equity firm DXA Investments is Modern Logistics' largest investor and has backed it since its launch in 2014, initially with a USD30 million equity investment, and then with another USD30 million sourced from a co-investment pool. Other investors in ML include Lee, John Owen (previously the CFO at JetBlue Airways), and Norm Liu, the former chief executive of GECAS.
Modern Logistics is looking for new investors to bring not only capital but additional expertise to help the company expand, Lee and DXA Investments chief executive Oscar Decotelli said adding that the new investors could include other private-equity firms.
The company's investment drive comes at a time when Brazil's new Bolsonaro government has vowed to implement policies that encourage economic growth while improving local infrastructure.
