J&T Express Officially Invests in Best Inc. After $1.1 Billion Acquisition
On Friday, Chinese enterprise information inquiry platform Qichacha showed that Hangzhou Best Network Technologies Ltd., an affiliated company of Best Inc., has recently updated its industrial and commercial registration information. The original shareholders He Lili and Chen Wei have withdrawn, and the new shareholder J&T Express now holds 100% of shares.
On October 29 of this year, Shanghai J&T Express and Best Inc. jointly announced a strategic cooperation intention, whereby J&T Express would acquire Best Inc.’s express business in China at a price of about 6.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion).
According to the announcement released by Best Inc. on October 29, the sale does not include any other businesses of Best Inc., namely its supply chain management, the freight transportation, Ucargo and Global. According to the terms of the final agreement between the two companies, the consideration paid for the business is subject to certain adjustments and conditions. Best Inc. currently expects to receive about 3.9 billion yuan in cash from the Chinese business.
Fan Suzhou, Executive President of J&T Express, said: “Best Inc. has good infrastructure and excellent franchisee network resources. This acquisition has complementary advantages, which can optimize the network layout of the both parties in the Chinese market, promoting the refined operations and providing customers with better services. It can also promote the healthy growth of the express industry.”
Shao-Ning Chou, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Best Inc., added that, “We believe this transaction allows us to better capitalize on our strengths by focusing on supply chain-based logistics solutions and providing integrated supply chain, freight and global logistics services to our customers.”
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According to information shown on Qichacha, J&T Express was established in 2007, and its legal representative is Fan Suzhou. In 2019, J&T Express obtained the express delivery business qualification and network by investing in Shanghai Longbang Express. At the same time, it learned from the development of its logistics business in Southeast Asia and took advantage of OPPO’s sales network and logistics demand in the Chinese market to quickly start its own network. J&T Express’s delivery network of covers eight countries including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia and Singapore, serving more than 2 billion people worldwide.
Earlier, it was reported that J&T Express had completed the C1 round of financing with an amount of $1.735 billion, led by D1Capital, followed by Boyu Capital, Temasek and Sequoia Capital, with a valuation of $19.77 billion. Meanwhile, the report also pointed out that after the completion of C1 round of financing, the listing of J&T Express will also start. According to the agreement reached between J&T Express and its investors, the company must be listed before March 1, 2026 at the latest, and the IPO financing amount shall not be less than $1 billion. Regarding this matter, J&T Express responded that the news was false.
