The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
The world’s biggest shipping company is taking advantage of low industry prices to build its business across units.
A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S unveiled its latest venture on Thursday, when its APM Terminals unit said it will invest $859 million in a Moroccan port facility. That follows the closing earlier this month of the unit’s $1 billion acquisition of a Spanish rival, and an almost $1 billion deal in Mexico.
“Global trade is down at the moment, but the agreement shows the Maersk group’s strengths, that we can make long-term investments even when freight rates are challenged,†Kim Fejfer, the chief executive officer of APM Terminals, said in a phone interview. The Tangier concession will run 30 years, he said.
Maersk is going ahead with acquisitions even as its own business suffers from what analysts have described as a perfect storm, with plunging freight rates hitting its shipping business and low oil prices squeezing its exploration and drilling operations.