Kuwait’s Agility in talks with banks to raise around $800m

Kuwait’s Agility, one of the largest Gulf logistics companies, is in talks with banks to raise around $800m in debt as it plans to grow its business, including expanding its global warehouse capacity, the company’s chief executive told Reuters.

Agility is in discussions with domestic and foreign banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, for the funding, which could be raised either through bonds or bank debt, Tarek Sultan said.

“The financial department is now starting to deal with the details and if it sees that the bonds have an advantage, we will resort to bonds, but so far there is no final decision,” he added.

Agility plans to increase its global warehouse space, now standing at 10 million square metres, by 500,000 square meters annually for five years.

“Most of the new increases will be in Africa and the Middle East,” he said.

The company this month said it will invest $100m over three years to launch Shipa.com, a digital logistics platform that enables businesses, entrepreneurs and consumers manage deliveries online.

Earlier this year, Agility submitted a bid to acquire part of the investment management business of troubled Middle East private equity firm Abraaj. Negotiations for the potential deal are continuing “but on cold fire,” said Sultan, adding that the project is not strategic for the company.