Inclusion of Russia's Transmashholding in Delo Group's capital will enable creation of transport and logistics conglomerate - group board chairman
MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) - Sergei Shishkarev, chairman of Delo Group's board of directors, sees the potential for creating an international transport and logistics conglomerate as a result of the deal between Transmashholding (TMH), Rosatom state corporation and Delo Group to merge their logistics assets.
"We have indeed made a decision that might be quite unexpected but which in my opinion is very logical. I am one of the ideologists and authors of this structure. It seems to me that the time has come for market leaders to unite. In this case, Rosatom, our main partner, Transmashholding, the leading corporation in the engineering and rolling stock production market, and the Delo Group, the largest logistics holding. We see a lot of synergy here," Shishkarev said in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel on Friday.
"We see the possibility of building a conglomerate of companies that will be a leader not just in the post-Soviet space," he said. With the development of railway and port infrastructure and a more serious increase in the fleet, the possibility exists that the company will reach a point where it becomes the world's leading transport and logistics infrastructure corporation, he said.
"We want to enter the top ten in revenue and in EBITDA, and in the number of transport units we will operate. All the prerequisites for this are in place," he said.
It was reported earlier that Rosatom, Shishkarev and TMH have agreed to consolidate their logistics assets and form a joint company. In the initial stage, TMH will buy 1% of Delo Group from Shishkarev, while Rosatom will retain a 49% stake in the group. By the end of 2025, they plan to close the deal to combine all their logistics assets, and determine a business model and governance system for the future company.
At the end of December 2024, Shishkarev's stake in Delo Group dropped from 51% to 50%, as R-Alyans LLC became the owner of 1%. JSC Atomenergoprom (AEP), a division of Rosatom, retained 49%. "I remain and will remain a 50% equal partner," Shishkarev said on Friday.
He also recalled that the company's shareholders approved a new CEO at the end of December. "The proposal [of the candidate] came from Transmashholding. I met with Alexei Lebedev, held negotiations with him for hours and subsequently submitted his candidacy myself for the approval and support of the shareholders," Shishkarev said.
Delo Group shareholders will hold a meeting on January 22 to elect a new board of directors, he said. "The board of directors will include representatives of Rosatom and Pyotr Ivanov, who today became head of [Rosatom's] transport division and heads FESCO Group. For my part, I'm proposing my own candidates, remain chairman of the board of directors, will head the strategy committee in future," Shishkarev said.
A new management team is now being formed and there are plans to organize commercial functions, merge a number of assets and optimize operations in certain areas, he said. The company has plans to build hubs abroad that will be connected by its own fleet and enter the deep sea international container shipping market. "I think that within six months we will clarify the company's development track to 2030-2035 and reach all the set goals with this new management team," Shishkarev said.
The configuration of the deal between JSC Transmashholding, Rosatom state corporation and the Delo group of companies may emerge over the next six months, head of TMH Kirill Lipa said in January.
Sources in the transportation market previously told Interfax that Rosatom intends to acquire capital in TMH. It is also expected that TMH shareholders will receive Rosatom's 49% stake in Delo Group.