Exclusive: XpressBees in early stage talks to acquire courier platform Trackon

Logistics firm XpressBees is in early-stage talks to acquire logistics and supply chain firm Trackon, sources aware of the development told Entrackr. This move comes after the Pune-based unicorn has had two back-to-back secondary rounds recently.

“Both parties have been in talks for the past few weeks and currently contours of the deal are being chalked out,” said a source requesting anonymity.

Sources say that XpressBees has gained a stronghold in the metros and Tier 1 cities and now aims to strengthen its services in tier III and IV cities. The Trackon acquisition could add decent scale to XpressBees’ topline and would bring a different business: franchise-led parcel delivery. Trackon claims to have a network of over 5,000 franchise partners across India which contributes over 70% of its business.

“If the deal gets through, it will mark XpressBees’ entry into traditional courier business which caters to MSMEs in smaller cities,” said the above-mentioned source.

Caveat: Talks are in early stages and there's no guarantee a deal will be reached.

XpressBees provides supply chain solutions including B2B/B2C express delivery service, cross-border logistics, and warehousing services to e-commerce, pharma, heavy industries and banking institutions. Trackon’s network and expertise will bolster its depth in pharma and banking segments, added sources.

XpressBees declined to comment on this story, while queries sent to Trackon on Monday did not elicit any response until publication of the story.

Scale-wise, XpressBees is the third largest new-age logistics and supply chain company after Ecom Express and Delhivery. While the firm is yet to disclose its FY23 numbers, XpressBees reported a nearly 90% jump in its revenue to Rs 1,905 crore in FY22. The company was also inching towards break-even as its losses shrank 57% to Rs 27 crore in FY22.

The company turned unicorn after a $300 million round in February 2021 and facilitated $65 million worth secondary transactions since August 2022.

Trackon, on the other hand, is a two-decade-old company that claims to serve 5,600 pin codes across the country with plans to expand its services to 12,000 pin codes over the next couple of years. The company reported operating revenue of Rs 283 crore in FY22 and turned profitable with Rs 8.22 crore profits in books.