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EU: Maersk and Dong believed to be in talks for $10Bn North Sea oil merger

By  |  November 28, 2016

Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk and DONG Energy are in talks to merge their oil and gas operations in a deal that would create a business worth more than $10 billion including debt, sources familiar with the matter said.

Maersk is working with Bank of America on the potential deal, while JP Morgan is assisting Dong Energy, said the people, who cautioned there is no certainty the parties would come to terms.

Maersk said in September it planned to merge or spin-off its energy assets as part of a major restructuring and instead focus on its core transport and logistics businesses.

DONG Energy said this month it was putting its oil and gas assets up for sale, as it wants to shift away from fossil fuels toward offshore wind.

Some analysts have said, however, that it could be hard to find buyers, with many other energy companies also putting assets up for sale due to low oil prices.

“The only thing that would make sense is a complete merger of their businesses”, said one of the sources, who asked not to be names because the deliberations are private.

Full Content: Reuters

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