CVC backs Philippines logistics provider

The private equity firm is currently deploying its fifth Asia fund, which closed at $4.5 billion earlier this year. The core strategy involves pursuing control and partnership investments in core consumer and services sectors. The partnership approach is most evident in Southeast Asia, where the private equity firm has completed a string of minority-joint control deals with founders and family groups.

Fast was founded by William Chiongbian and remains under the control of the Chiongbian Family. It started out in the 1970s as a shipping business, with William Lines becoming the country’s most profitable shipping company. These assets were divested in the 2000s to focus on opportunities in logistics, warehousing, distribution, car dealerships, and real estate.

The company now specializes in end-to-end logistics, delivering supply chain solutions to multinationals and large organizations operating in the Philippines. It employs more than 11,000 people across 53 branches, has over one million square meters of warehousing space, and a distribution network of nearly 90,000 stores.

CVC will support the development of this business, including the digitalization and expansion of Fast’s e-commerce operations and the pursuit of M&A. The private equity firm agreed to invest in 2019 and has since been working with the company on various strategic initiatives, notably building up a pipeline of acquisition opportunities.

“Fast is the market leader in the growing Philippine logistics sector, our clients greatly value our broad offering which spans the entire supply chain from logistics and warehousing to distribution and transportation. The investment in Fast by CVC is a testament to the attractiveness and potential of the Philippine logistics sector, the market-leading business we have built over the last four decades, and of course the economy more broadly,” Chiongbian, who is also group president and CEO of Fast, said in a statement.

CVC’s previous partnership investments in the Philippines include the purchase of a 15% stake in Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) for $115 million in 2011. It exited three years later when Cathay Life Insurance announced bought 20% of the bank for around $400 million. In 2013, CVC acquired an 80% interest in business process outsourcing (BPO) provider SPi Global at a valuation of $300 million. It divested two assets for around $300 million and sold the rest to Partners Group for $330 million in 2017.

The Fast deal comes hot on the heels of another Southeast Asia-based investment. Last week, CVC agreed to buy Irrawaddy Green Towers (IGT), Myanmar’s largest independent telecommunications infrastructure provider, for a reported valuation of $700 million.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Expansion
• Support services
• Philippines
• CVC Capital Partners
• Growth capital
• Logistics
• Transportation