Maersk has reached an agreement with A.P. Moller Holding, the parent company of the A.P. Moller Group, for an intended divestment of Maersk Supply Service (MSS), a leading provider of global offshore marine services and project solutions for the energy sector.
“We are very pleased to see Maersk Supply Service will be able to continue to further develop new solutions for the green transition of the offshore sector under a new long-term ownership. This transaction validates the excellent work done by the team in the last years. At the same time, it marks the completion of our initial decision to divest all energy related activities and focus on truly integrated logistics.” says Patrick Jany, CFO of Maersk.
In 2016, Maersk adopted its new strategy around integrated logistics and a separation of the existing energy related activities was initiated. Maersk Tankers, Maersk Oil & Gas and Maersk Drilling were divested in the period 2017-2019. Today with the intended sale of Maersk Supply Service the final divestment of the energy related activities will be completed. Maersk Supply Service will continue trading under its current name and will be using the Maersk seven-pointed star logo as part of its brand.
The transaction includes a pioneering wind installation vessel, which when finalized will establish Maersk Supply Service as an offshore wind contractor. As the transaction is between related parties, a fairness opinion has been obtained from DNB Bank ASA. The fairness opinion confirms that the transaction value is fair from a financial point of view.
The value of the transaction is $685m (enterprise value), reflecting an EV/EBITDA multiple of 27.4x based on EBITDA for full-year 2022. Until obtaining all required regulatory approvals and closing of the transaction, Maersk Supply Service will remain a subsidiary of A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S and run the business independently as usual.
This is in line to company strategy to increase its connectivity via sea freight. In November 2022, Maersk launched new ocean shipping service to connect India–UAE–Saudi Arabia corridor.
Source: Maersk