Maersk buys Danish project logistics company for US$61m

AP MOLLER Maersk agreed to by a Danish project logistic company as the transport giant spends some of its windfall from surging container rates to expand its land-based operations.

Maersk will pay US$61 million in enterprise value for Martin Bencher Group, the Copenhagen-based company said in a statement on Friday (Aug 5). Maersk said it’s paying a multiple of 7.1 times estimated 2021 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the firm.

Maersk, which controls about one-sixth of the world’s container trade, earlier this week raised its 2022 profit forecast to a record US$31 billion as bottlenecks in key trade lanes continue to boost rates. The company is pursuing a strategy to build out its land-based logistic - where profit margins historically have been higher than at sea - through takeovers and organic growth.

Martin Bencher is an asset-light company specializing in project logistics, a product Maersk will offer clients on a broader scale after the acquisition. It has 29 offices in 22 countries and 170 employees.

The deal follows a number of takeovers over the past year. In February, Maersk bought a trucking firm for US$1.68 billion and in December it acquired a warehouse specialist for US$3.6 billion. BLOOMBERG