MetroPac acquires 12% of logistics firm Air21

MetroPac Movers Inc., the logistics arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), said Thursday it has acquired a 12 percent stake in logistic services provider Air21.

MetroPac president and chief executive officer Marilyn Aquino said the deal was consummated in July.

“We finished the acquisition of 12 percent of Air21,” MetroPac president and CEO Marilyn Aquino said in a press briefing in Makati City.

She said the acquisition gave MetroPac the option to further raise its stake in Air21 up to 100 percent.

“The 12 percent is an entry point to allow us to understand the business more ... until we know the complexity of the business and the major challenges. Then we can raise it,” she said.

“We have been granted certain rights to increase our stake. There is no cap,” Aquino noted.

She declined to disclose the acquisition cost.

The Air21 deal is part of MetroPac’s goal to be a leading player in the logistics industry.

“In the next two years, we will be very busy in building our warehousing capacity and developing trucking lanes for our trucking assets. At the same time, we are going to develop our ability to do last mile delivery,” Aquino noted.

In logistics terms, the last mile is the distance from a central depot or other offloading point to the final delivery destination—which is considered more difficult and costly.

“Our program is to build that capacity in the next two years so that, hopefully, we are in a position to take a leading role in warehousing. Warehousing business is very stable and we are putting most of our resources in the business,” Aquino said.

MetroPac is banking on the fast-rising logistics sector amid a growing e-commerce sector, which require more hubs or warehousing.

The company also acquired a 200,000 square meters of land in Cavite, which will be developed in to a 141,000-sqm covered warehouse space.

“We’re acquiring another one in the north, around 30 hectares,” Aquino said. —VDS, GMA News