Deccan Cargo Looking at Stake Sale

New Delhi: Deccan Cargo & Express Logistics Pvt. Ltd. is looking to sell as much as a 25% stake to fund its day-to-day operations, the newly launched company's founder, G. R. Gopinath, said Friday.
Deccan Cargo is scheduled to start air-cargo operations May 27 under the brand Deccan 360, connecting New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hong Kong and Dubai.
"The company is right now 100% mine and I have invested $25 million in it," Mr. Gopinath told reporters at a news conference to formally launch the company.
Mr. Gopinath - who also founded India's first budget airline, Air Deccan - said he will sell the stake only when "the market improves and valuations are higher." The company will likely need about $30 million in the next six months as working capital, he said, but declined to say whether he was talking to any investors.
Deccan 360 will use nine leased aircraft - three Airbus A310 freighters and six smaller turboprop planes made by Avions de Transport Regional, or ATR. It also plans to establish a warehousing hub in the central Indian city of Nagpur, set up collection warehouses across the country and deploy its own trucks.
08/05/09 Nitin Luthra/The Wall Street Journal

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Categories: Cargo May 2009, Deccan 360 May 2009, Deccan Aviation May 2009, New May 2009