Maersk family to take greater control of the group
As the dust settles on tricky annual results and the announcement of a new chairman of the group, it has emerged that the Maersk family intends to take parts of the group private and to have a greater input in the day-to-day running of the company, one of the largest shipping lines in the world.
In an article posted on the Maersk website, Ane Mærsk Mc-Kinney Uggla, chairman of 2013-founded A.P. Møller Holding and vice chairman of the board of directors of A.P. Møller – Mærsk, outlined how her family will be making very significant changes to the group in the coming years as it goes through a major restructuring. Last September, the group outlined plans to split in two – with transport and logistics in one company and oil and tankers in another, the latter of which is likely to be sold off.
Uggla, the granddaughter of the founder of the group, stated that the family-owned holding firm will become more active going forward.
“We are redefining the group with the establishment of A.P. Møller Holding as the mother company of the Maersk activities,” Uggla said, adding: “Going forward A.P. Møller Holding intends to own – partly or as a majority shareholder – several of the Maersk-related activities directly. This will not happen overnight but during the next few years, based on a process decided by the board of A.P. Moller – Maersk.”
Uggla also said she wanted the holding company to continue to build new businesses as well.
Uggla reflected how the group had changed so much since its founding in 1904. She cited the moves into the oil business and container terminals as examples.
“Changes are necessary to stay relevant,” Uggla said, before concluding with a question: “How do we create the next APM Terminals or Maersk Oil over the next 10 to 20 years?”
Maersk reported a net loss of $1.9bn at its recently announced 2016 results. It has also tapped former SAP boss Jim Hagemann Snabe to replace long term chairman Michael Pram Rasmussen later this year.
Uggla’s son Robert, 38, is now running the holding company having stepped down as CEO of salvage firm Svitzer last summer.
