Denmark's A.P. Moller – Maersk acquires Pilot Freight Services

The transaction price of $1.68 billion equals to an enterprise value of $1.8 billion post IFRS-16 lease liabilities.

The strategic acquisition will benefit customers by offering customised international, domestic and cross-border logistics to Maersk’s North America landside logistics capabilities for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) distribution models. Equally important, new supply chain capabilities for the big and bulky sector with white glove home delivery service are added, Maersk said in a statement.

With Pilot – A Maersk Company, Maersk extends its end-to-end offerings deeper into the North America supply chain of its customers, adding important supply chain infrastructure capacity and scale. The combined Pilot and Maersk scale will offer customers approximately 150 facilities in the US, including distribution centres, hubs and stations.

“Our customers are looking for us to accelerate their supply chain speed, remove handoffs and constantly improve their end-to-end, omni-channel business model to reach their financial growth goals. Pilot’s expertise and existing infrastructure enables us to achieve these goals by creating more agile, nimble supply chains to serve customers the way they want to be served,” said Narin Phol, regional managing director of Maersk North America.

Pilot brings customised shipping and logistics expertise with a network of 190 global partners and a North American facilities-based network of 87 stations and hubs through which freight is transported and distributed to end customers. The company uses mainly third-party providers of trucking and has access to controlled capacity which includes full truckload (FTL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) for both B2C and B2B distribution including heavy and bulky shipments with white glove service for expedited and time definite services.

“Teaming up with an industry leader like Maersk is a natural fit and will enable our company to tap into significant, new future growth opportunities for our customers and employees. We like Maersk’s continuous improvement mindset and active investment pattern in expanding supply chain solutions so we’re excited to work together in our expanded role,” said Zach Pollock, Pilot Freight Services CEO.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)