Supply Chain Research

Maersk has agreed the sale of its oil business to Total for $7.4 billion. The deal should close in 2018, and is part of the strategic review announced in September 2016. As well as simplifying the group, it will reduce the company’s debt-to-total capital to around 19% from 28% before the deal, vs. the industry average of 48%. That provides useful flexibility ahead of the Hamburg Sud acquisition. The oil business was also less predictable, with quarter-on-quarter revenue volatility 2.4x that of the shipping business. The resulting group will be more dependent on the fortunes of the contai...