Shipbroking giant in talks to buy Norway's Platou

London

CLARKSON plc, the world's largest shipbroker, is in talks about purchasing Norway's RS Platou ASA, a transaction that would create a business with double the sales of its closest publicly traded competitor.

Clarkson, which is based in London, said in a regulatory statement that it's in talks to purchase all of the Oslo-based firm's issued share capital. The two companies' sales last year amounted to US$500 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Braemar Shipping Services and ACM Shipping Group, which merged in July, had comb…