JWD to acquire 20% stake in ESCO, sealing partnership with PSA
- Written by ACN Newswire - Press Releases
JWD InfoLogistics (SET: JWD), ASEAN top specialist in supply chain solutions, will acquire up to 20% of ESCO, the operator of international container terminals at 3 locations within Thailand's Laem Chabang deep-sea port. |
"We consider this significant investment a major undertaking this year, to be funded by the recent issuance of debentures as well as from operating cash flow. Initially, JWD Transport will take a 15% effective share in ESCO, with an option to increase to 20% within the next 6-12 months," Mr Charvanin said.
ESCO currently operates international container terminals at 3 locations within the Laem Chabang Deep-Sea Port; i) ESCO (B3), where ESCO directly develops and manages a concession from the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT); ii) LCB1 (B1) terminal and iii) LCMT (A0) terminal, with ESCO a shareholder of the company that holds the concession to operate both terminals. In 2020, the three cargo terminals handled about 2 million twenty foot-equivalent units (TEUs), or 20% of the total throughput processed at the Laem Chabang Deep-Sea Port. The demand for services at the international container terminals is expected to grow continuously with the recovery of the world economy following improvements in the pandemic situation in the USA and Europe.
ESCO is also one of 6 inland container depot (ICD) service providers at Ladkrabang handling container traffic for various shipping lines not located within Laem Chabang Port, helping reduce lead time and transportation cost. Revenue is derived from the operation of the container yard and import and export warehouses, along with Customs clearance services, and furbishing and transporting containers by land and rail - which will increase opportunity for JWD's freight business and offering additional services to users of Ladkrabang ICD Station.
"JWD expects to realize its share of capital gains from ESCO no later than October," Mr Charvanin added. "The investment in ESCO will serve as an extension of our international freight port operations in Laem Chabang. With our stake in Transimex, a major logistics provider from Vietnam, incoming international shipping port service business will empower us to provide multimodal transportation services, connect a wide range of freight services including by car, rail, water, and increase the opportunity to expand our customer base from container port service and ICD Ladkrabang station service to provide a full range of logistics services.
"JWD is already providing multimodal transportation services, such as transportation and transfer of general cargo, vehicles, hazardous cargo and chemicals, the transportation of cargo from Bangkok to the international container terminal at Laem Chabang, the lifting and transport of containers by rail from the Northeast, from the Eastern Economic Community (EEC), as well as the industries from Rayong Province to Laem Chabang Port. Therefore, this investment will help to expand our customer base as well as both our Bangkok-to-Laem Chabang and ICD Ladkrabang-to-Laem Chabang transportation services. Also significant is the provision for using the cargo traffic data from Laem Chabang international port to further develop our logistics capabilities," Mr. Charvanin concluded.
Visit: JWD InfoLogistics PLC (SET: JWD); Bloomberg: JWD.TB, Reuters: JWD.BK; https://jwd-group.com/en/. Media: Yuttachai Praikanahok, MT Multimedia for JWD, T: +66 9 1736 2866, E: yuttachai.p@mtmultimedia.com
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Authors: ACN Newswire - Press Releases
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