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Samskip moves to acquire Nor Lines

Rotterdam-headquartered transport and logistics firm Samskip appears to have got one over an old rival, announcing that it is acquiring Nor Lines from Norway’s DSD Group to expand its shipping and logistics business in Norway.

Samskip, originally founded in Iceland, says the deal is subject to approval by Norway’s competition authorities who earlier this year rejected the EUR15m acquisition of Nor Lines by another Icelandic company, Eimskip

Samskip will acquire Nor Lines activities which include terminal activities nationwide, warehousing and haulage services, and five out of seven multi-purpose vessels which will be transferred under a time charter arrangement. Post-acquisition activities will continue under the Nor Lines name.

Ásbjörn Gíslason, chief executive officer of Samskip Logistics, commented: “It is a natural but significant extension of our shipping and logistics activities in Norway which will further broaden our customer offerings. Nor Lines’ financial performance has been disappointing in recent years, but we are confident that by combining our respective strengths and refocusing the business we will create synergies, improve efficiency and provide customers with enhanced services.”

“We are pleased to complete our divestment of Nor Lines and entrust the business to Samskip, in a strategic solution for a specialized business that needs to be part of a larger structure to develop and thrive. We believe that Samskip will be a good home for Nor Lines, and a good solution for our employees and customers,” added Ingvald Løyning, chief executive of DSD.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrade’s Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.
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