Acquisition Worth US$644m Boosts Danish Firm’s Air Freight Capacity
A.P. Moller-Maersk has completed the purchase of freight forwarder Senator International, as the Danish shipping firm seeks to strengthen its air transport capacity.
The value of the purchase on a post-IFRS 16 basis was about US$644 million, Maersk said. The carrier had announced its intention to buy the forwarder in November.
Senator, founded almost 40 years ago in Hamburg, focusses on air and sea freight as well as on logistics, packaging and customs handling. Its services include project forwarding and heavy and special haulage.
The forwarder’s air freight operations accounted for about 65 percent of its revenue in 2020.
“We are delighted to welcome the Senator team to our Maersk family,” said Vincent Clerc, CEO of ocean and logistics at Maersk.
“As a global provider of integrated logistics, we are improving our ability to provide end-to-end solutions to our customers. With Senator on board, we are ramping up our air freight capacity, network, and know-how significantly to cater even better for our customers."
Maersk announced in April it had launched a new air freight division, Maersk Air Cargo.
The carrier is aiming to have one third of the annual air tonnage carried within its own controlled freight network, which it will do through a combination of owned and leased aircraft. The remaining capacity will be provided by strategic commercial carriers and charter flight operators, it said.
Maersk will use Denmark’s second largest airport, Billund, as its European air freight hub.
