This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 22, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: GD Express Carrier Bhd (GDex) has offered up to 10% of its issued share capital to Yamato Asia Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yamato Holdings Co Ltd, paving the way for it to become the leading delivery company in Malaysia.

In a bourse filing yesterday, GDex said the total number of new shares to be issued under the private placement is 124.89 million shares amounting to RM217.31 million. 

GDex also said Yamato Asia “has the intention” to increase its stake to 23% in the future by acquiring additional shares from existing shareholders.

“With prospective benefits from both [the] TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) and [the] AEC (Asean Economic Community), it is highly expected that demand for Asean’s intra-regional trade will be exponentially increased.

“Going forward, GDex and Yamato Group believe that a stronger partnership formed via business collaboration and capital alliance will enable both parties to capitalise on each other’s strengths, and together expand to become the leading delivery company in Malaysia,” it said.

GDex said Yamato Asia will also nominate one non-independent non-executive director to GDex’s board to further strengthen the collaboration and relationship between both companies.

Yamato Holdings also manages Yamato Transport Co Ltd, the No 1 parcel delivery company in Japan with the largest market share of 45.4% in financial year 2015, according to the Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Ministry.

GDex said the “business collaboration and capital alliance” will see both companies developing business in the Asean region.

It entails the cooperation between Yamato Malaysia and GDex to leverage on GDex’s extensive network to offer a wider coverage for Yamato Malaysia’s customers.

GDex shares closed two sen or 1.16% lower at RM1.70 yesterday, valuing them at RM2.12 billion.