[130710.EN.SEA] Maersk Loses Appetite For Acquisitions, Nothing To Buy

COPENHAGEN's AP Moeller-Maersk has lost its recent keen interest in acquisitions expressed as lates as two weeks ago when it looked as though carriers might still go under in the global downturn..
"We had expected a larger number of assets, including ships and oil rigs, to have been available," group CEO Nils Smedegaard Andersen told Bloomberg. "Acquisitions are not on top of our agenda now. Banks hold their hands under companies which then avoid foreclosure."

Said Carnegie Investment Bank's Maersk analyst Henrik Lund: "We haven't seen the large billion-dollar acquisitions that might have been expected. The global sell-out of distressed companies hasn't materialised."

Troubled CMA CGM, the third largest container line after Maersk and MSC, is in talks with creditors to restructure its debt. The Marseilles-based company said it expects to reach agreement with investors by August on rescheduling it debt.

Also troubled is Hapag-Lloyd, partly owned by German travel giant TUI, which was rescued last year by Hamburg consortium to determined to save it from foreign ownership.

Said Mr Lund "It may also be good for Maersk to keep a strong balance sheet if there should come a double dip. The recent development in the container sector has clearly showed that things can change quickly, so it's prudent for Maersk to act cautiously."

Since its US$2.9 billion acquisition of Royal P&O Nedlloyd in 2005, Maersk has spent more than $3.3 billion on oil fields in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and $6 billion on developing fields in Qatar.

In the past year, Maersk has acquired stakes in a Brazilian and a Norwegian oil licence. The company bought a 25 per cent of the Jack Field in the Gulf of Mexico from Devon Energy Corp. for $300 million. The APM Terminals unit agreed to invest $120 million to develop Liberia's port in the capital Monrovia.

Danish Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said Maersk could look to buying rival container lines in the next three to five years if freight rates continue at new highs.

Source : HKSG, 13.07.10.