Japan’s Nippon Express is looking to make acquisitions in India

Nippon Express completed its acquisition of Austria’s Cargo-Partner GmbH in January, and announced a minority stake in Wiz Freight of India the same month

Nippon Express Holdings Inc. is seeking companies to buy in India to speed up its growth in the fast-growing economy, an executive in charge of overseas operations at Japan’s second-largest parcel company said.

“Our thinking is that we’re willing to take on debt to make this happen,” Tadahiro Furue, a senior managing executive officer, said in an interview. Nippon Express would be willing to sacrifice some target to maintain strong balance sheet including achieving a 10% return on invested capital, he said, adding that it wasn’t a key consideration.

In the post-pandemic era and an environment where semiconductor supply networks are becoming more critical, delivery and logistics are becoming a more strategic part of corporate operations, according to Furue. As a result, Nippon Express is seeking faster growth outside its home market, with the goal of reaching 40% of revenue from abroad by 2028 from 26% last year.

None of the world’s top delivery companies, including DHL and Kuehne + Nagel International AG, have a strong foothold in India and many of them are eyeing a leadership position in the market, Furue said.

Nippon Express completed its acquisition of Austria’s Cargo-Partner GmbH in January, and announced a minority stake in Wiz Freight of India the same month. Furue said that Nippon Express would seek to offer superior services and recently won a major contract in India with a big technology company, according to the executive.