Delhivery appoints three new independent board directors

Bengaluru: IPO-bound logistics startup, Delhivery, on Thursday announced the appointment of three new independent directors to its board.

The new member are Kalpana Morparia, former chairman of J. P. Morgan, South and Southeast Asia; Romesh Sobti, former managing director of IndusInd Bank; and Saugata Gupta chief executive of Marico Ltd.

Morparia, who has assumed the role of independent director on Delhivery’s board, has previously served as vice-chair on the boards of ICICI Group companies. She has been a longstanding independent board member of companies like Hindustan Unilever and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. She also serves as independent director on the board of Philip Morris International.

Sobti, was also the India head of ABN AMRO Bank N.V., and currently serves as a director on several boards, including those of Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. and Adani Green Energy Ltd.

Gupta, who is at the helm of Marico Ltd, currently serves as an independent director on the board of Ashok Leyland.

Along with this, Delhivery has also appointed Sri Rajan and Deepak Kapoor as independent directors.

Delhivery, which is backed by Softbank Vision Fund and Carlyle Group Inc. was planning to file for its $1 billion IPO, as soon as October, this year, Bloomberg reported in August.

Delhivery is a leading end-to-end logistics and supply chain services company in India, covering over 17,000 pin codes. The company provides a full suite of logistics services such as express parcel transportation, less-than-load (LTL) and full-truck load (FTL) freight, reverse logistics, cross-border and business-to-consumer warehousing.

Delhivery’s preparation towards filing its prospectus is the latest example of a rush to tap the public markets by Indian unicorn startups, including Paytm, Nykaa, Ixigo, and Policy Bazaar, amid a dizzying stock market rally.