Great Circle Fund Invests in Russian Logisticts Sector
25 Jul 2007
Moscow, Russia, July 25th, 2007 - Alfa Capital Partners announces Great Circle Fund’s investment of US$21.1 million in Moscow-based STS Logistics, a leading Russian freight forwarding, warehousing, and customs services provider with particular expertise in complex movements of oversized and non-standard goods associated with major projects throughout Russia and the CIS. The company’s clients include Intel, Komatsu, Ford and Otis. STS Logistics was "Company of the Year – Leader in Transport industry" the 2004 ", "Best Forwarding Company" in 2005 , and got the third place in the top 25 rating of Russian logistics companies provided by KIA-Center.
“STS is a well established logistics provider with an outstanding reputation in the project logistics field and this well managed company is ideally placed to take advantage of the fast growing Russian construction and industrial sectors” said Richard Sobel, CEO of Alfa Capital Partners.
“We have been aggressively tracking the logistics sector in Russia and are delighted to team up with one of the leading logistics providers in Russia and the CIS,” said Hew Crooks, a Partner with Great Circle Capital. “STS has a chance to take their state-of-the-art logistics business and expand it dramatically. Though their expertise in logistics and freight service is unmatched, they have sometimes lacked the warehouse space to offer their clients a fully integrated solution. We believe they are now poised for tremendous growth.”
Proceeds from the Great Circle investment will be used to develop a network of Russian warehouses as well as open new offices to complement its existing 30 offices in Russia and the CIS.
“We needed this investment to realize our aggressive expansion plans,” said Rustam Yuldashev, the CEO of STS Logistics. “We are very excited to have teamed up with such a strong and knowledgeable Western investor. This partnership will help us to grow our business and operate at the highest Western standards in terms of corporate governance and transparency. With this investment, we will create a network of 8-10 modern warehouses totaling 100 thousand square meters in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. As a result of this new investment, we establish ourselves as the only logistics provider in Russia that controls the whole chain of freight delivery: customs clearance, transport and warehousing.”
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