Mergers and acquisitions are nothing new in business. In fact M&As are most visible in sunrise sectors that hold promise in the medium to long term. India’s domestic courier sector is one such. It comes as no surprise that DHL, the world’s no.1 express giant now based in Germany, has decided to gobble up Blue Dart, the bluest of blue private sector courier/cargo company of India.
Effective October, 2002, DHL already has incrementally acquired controlling stake in Blue Dart (68% in 2004), which its Singapore subsidiary now plans to hike by purchasing all the latter’s publicly-held shares. This will make Blue Dart another wholly-owned subsidiary of DHL.
Now, a new suitor.
Picture source : http://www.naukri.com/gpw/bluedart/images/pic.jpg.
For a long time, foreign courier majors have eyed India’s domestic business with skepticism. With good reasons. Most of India’s internal courier traffic is in unorganized hands, many of whom charge less than half of what Blue Dart charges. Conceivably, their service is erratic and there usually is no proper way to redress grievances.
That Blue Dart and a few notables like Gati, DTDC, etc. could chalk out a niche for themselves despite the omnipresent Speed Post and other less worthies, indicates that India’s domestic courier market is indeed very large. As it matures further, one may look forward to improved services and multiple options like same-day delivery, overnight delivery, weekend delivery and so on. It will be then that the rough edges of courier service will become more smoother and less prickly.
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