Nippon Express, Japan’s leading global logistics player is planning to acquire 22 percent stake in Future Group's logistics arm, Future Supply Chain Solutions (FSC) for Rs 646 crore through a combination of primary issuance and secondary purchase of shares from an existing investor.

As part of this transaction, FSC will issue 37,89,350 shares to Nippon Express at a price of Rs 664 per share (22 percent premium to the current market price). Through this primary issue, Nippon Express will hold 8.6 percent stake on a fully diluted basis and FSC will raise around Rs 252 crore for funding its near‐term growth plans.

Further, Nippon Express has informed FSC that they have entered into a share purchase agreement with institutional shareholder(s) of FSC to acquire 58,63,475 shares representing 14.6 percent of existing share capital. Both these transactions will result in Nippon Express owning a 22 percent stake in FSC (on a post-money, fully diluted basis).

FSC plans to leverage Nippon Express' Japanese and MNC clients for exploring new business opportunities in India, especially for 3PL and express logistics operations. Nippon Express will also have representation on FSC’s board of directors, which will further strengthen its board through their strategic direction.

FSC covers the whole spectrum of supply chain services across logistics value chain including smart warehousing, transportation and distribution, last-mile delivery for a diverse set of clients ranging from Reckitt Benckiser, Kellogg India, Mondelez India, ITC, to Benetton India, TTK Prestige, Pepe Jeans, Snapdeal, Hitachi, Tata Motors among others.

Commenting on this transaction, Mayur Toshniwal, managing director, FSC said, "We welcome Nippon Express, a highly respected logistics player globally, into the FSC family and are excited about the potential of this strategic partnership in creating a best in class supply chain service offering. Through this partnership, Nippon Express and FSC are well poised to derive significant synergies given their complementary skill sets and services offering, and gain a deeper foothold in the large and growing Indian logistics sector."