Maersk to Buy U.S. Warehousing and Distribution Firm

by Stine Jacobsen February 19, 2020

Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy U.S. warehousing and distribution firm Performance Team as part of plans to deliver more customized logistics solutions.

Maersk said the the value of the deal is $545 million, including lease liabilities of around $225 million.

The world's largest container shipping firm aims to boost its earnings from its inland logistics operations, or non-ocean business. In 2018, the ocean transport business accounted for almost 80% of core earnings.

"This will strengthen our ability to deliver products and solutions that meet our customers' end-to-end supply chain needs," Vincent Clerc, chief executive of Ocean & Logistics at Maersk said in a statement.

While Maersk moves around one in five containers shipped at sea, it handles land transportation from ports to warehouses and distribution centres for less than a quarter of its customers.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen. Editing by Jane Merriman)