Maersk acquires Senator International to boost aviation business

AP Moller-Maersk is acquiring German forwarding company Senator International to boost air cargo volume following record third quarter results.

Maersk acquired Senator International to promote the development of the aviation business (Image: Flughafen-Hahn)

Maersk is acquiring Senator in a transaction valued at $644 million, while also announcing the purchase of two B777F freighters and a lease of three B767-300 cargo planes.

The move is seen by Maersk as adding flexibility and agility to its operations at a time when global supply chains are under unprecedented strain. Container shipping has won financially, if not operationally. From supply chain troubles, but Maersk also reported record Q3 results with EBIT up about 5 times at $5.9 billion on revenue of $16.5 billion in the third quarter.

Søren Skou, CEO of AP Moller - Maersk said: “In the ongoing exceptional market situation, with high demand in the US and global disruptions to the supply chains, we continued to increase capacity and expand our offerings to keep cargo moving for our customers".

"Our integrator strategy is key to supporting our customers’ end-to-end logistics needs by designing a more stable Ocean business, strongly growing our logistics offering and relying on automated and efficient terminals.”

Maersk with its first cargo flight from Thailand to Japan on October 11, 2020

Maersk with its first cargo flight from Thailand to Japan on October 11, 2020 (Image: Maersk)

Looking at the acquisition of Senator International, Skou commented: “As a natural next step in expanding our multi-logistics offering, we today announce the acquisition of Senator International and the ordering of additional aircraft, building on our existing air freight capabilities and adding even more flexibility to our customers’ supply chains.”

Senator has its own air cargo operation with individually controlled capacity using nineteen weekly flights across its network.

“Founded by my father Uwe Kirschbaum in 1984, Senator has grown to a sizable global freight forwarder. Senator’s own controlled air product started in 2016 and has proven to be a success story,” said Tim-Oliver Kirschbaum, Senator's CEO and shareholder.

“By joining Maersk, we strongly believe that we will be able to deliver an even broader portfolio with own controlled air capacity as well as also in other modes of transportation.”

The latest moves are part of Maersk's plan to control a third of its annual air freight network through its own fleet through a mix of ownership and lease. The fleet is operated by domestic aircraft operator Star Air.

Maersk is not alone in targeting air freight, and competitor CMA CGM established CMA CGM Air Cargo in February of this year. CMA CGM Air Cargo has a fleet of four Airbus A330-200F cargo planes and has ordered two Boeing 777 freighters.

The acquisition of Senator is expected to close in the first half of 2022.

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