Moeller-Maersk A/S said it will split into separate transport and energy companies as Denmark’s biggest conglomerate concludes a three-month strategic and structural review.
Maersk “will become an integrated transport and logistics company,” the Copenhagen-based group said in a stock-exchange statement on Thursday. “Oil and oil related businesses, either individually or in combination, to be separated from” the group and “will focus on optimizing and strengthening its strong position in the Danish, British and Norwegian parts of the North Sea.”
Chairman Michael Pram Rasmussen first revealed Maersk was assessing the merits of splitting up the group on June 23, the same day he dismissed Nils Smedegaard Andersen as chief executive officer. The prospect of a structural reorganization sent the shares up as much as 12 percent on the day, as most investors expect the company to be worth more once its different parts are freed from the conglomerate structure.
Under Andersen, the 112-year-old group sold off a number of units that weren’t related to oil or shipping, including a stake in Danske Bank A/S and shares in a supermarket chain. But he had repeatedly defended the conglomerate structure, arguing the various business units benefited from the synergies that the group structure brought with it.
Soren Skou, who replaced Andersen, said in June that the Maersk group’s “future set-up” must be able to adapt quickly and at a “minimal cost” to the “fast-paced changes” of the company’s operating environment.
Maersk Oil’s chief executive will leave his post as part of the shake-up. Read more here.