A.P. Møller-Maersk “has bowed to investor pressure” and will sell its 20% stake in Danske Bank, Denmark's biggest bank,
the
Financial Times
reported.
“The family foundation behind Maersk will buy most of the shares,” the
FT
article said. Shareholders in the Maersk conglomerate will receive a special dividend totaling up to $5.5 billion, the value of its holding in the bank, the report said.
A year ago, Maersk sold its supermarket business for $3 billion and initiated its first share buyback, the article said. CEO Nils Andersen, who took over seven years ago, “has tried to focus the once sprawling conglomerate on four areas: container shipping, oil production and exploration, port terminals, and drilling rigs,” the article said.
Maersk has been a major shareholder in Dansek since 1928. A.P. Møller Holding, the family company that is Maersk's biggest shareholder, plans to buy 15% of the bank from Maersk plus an additional 2.02% in an effort to “preserve Danske Bank's close … ties to Denmark,” the
FT
article said. (Source:
Financial Times
, Feb. 26, 2015.)
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