Agility plans big acquisition in down market

Agility plans big acquisition in down market    Fast-growing Kuwaiti-based logistics giant Agility has indicated it plans to make a big acquisition in emerging markets, its chairman told Reuters last week.
   Agility has expanded through tactical acquisitions of smaller players globally, but now intends to make a big splash in a market where growth is still occurring, most likely in Asia.
   “We are kind of slowing down on small acquisitions so that we can go after big game-changing opportunities that will hopefully come our way as the market continues to deteriorate,” Tarek Sultan, chairman and managing director, told the news agency. “Clearly, all else being equal, we would like to target an acquisition in parts of the world that are growing and that means by definition emerging markets in Asia.”
   He said debt financing would not be necessary for the acquisition since the company is sitting on $1.5 billion in cash and assets. Reuters estimates that Agility’s turnover will increase slightly in 2009, but that profit will dip about 6 percent.
   Meanwhile, Agility said it has opened a new logistics center in Singapore, making the Southeast Asian island nation its Asia Pacific headquarters.
   The new five-story center has 14,500 square meters of space, including three floors of temperature-controlled space and two floors with conventional racking systems and 6,500 pallet positions.
   “Singapore is an important piece in Agility's growth plans,” Sultan said at a ceremony for the new center. “We continue to grow our investments here because Singapore's excellent connectivity and operating environment provides us an ideal platform to manage our growing regional presence.”