A.P. Møller-Maersk A/S of Denmark will split into two different units, one focused on transport and logistics and the other on energy.
The company has been affected by “one of the worst shipping down-cycles and a historic oil-price rout,”
a
Wall Street Journal
report said.
The split will enable Maersk Line to grow through acquisitions if the industry consolidates as expected, the
Journal
article said. Maersk Line makes up more than half the entire group's revenue, the article said.
The businesses within Maersk's energy unit “will either remain part of the Maersk group or be separated in the form of joint ventures, mergers or a listing,” the article said. It will focus on fewer geographies and will keep expenses low, the report said.
The founding family controls Maersk through a foundation.
A
Financial Times
report said
the family “was one of the driving forces behind the break-up” and that stagnation of revenues over 10 years rather than short-term price pressures was the cause.
A separate
Financial Times
report said the Maersk's former CEO, Nils Andersen was fired after a “struggle of wills” with the family and the chairman, Michael Pram Rasmussen.
Second-generation family member Ane Uggla is Maersk's vice chairman and chair of the main family foundation. One of her sons, Robert, became CEOP of A.P. Møller Holding, Maersk's controlling shareholder, in early September, the
FT
reported.
The family wants Maersk to remain a conglomerate, “albeit a more firmly focused one,” the
FT
report said. “The break-up also restores shipping as the cornerstone of Maersk after an attempt by Mr. Andersen to boost the other parts of the conglomerate.”
The family is preparing for the company's next 100 years, the
FT
article said. (Sources:
Wall Street Journal
, Sept. 22, 2016;
Financial Times
, Sept. 23, 2016.)
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