Maersk to Acquire Pilot Freight for $1.6B

AP Moller-Maersk AS says it intends to pay $1.6 billion to acquire Pilot Freight, a first, middle and last mile solutions provider specializing in the big and bulky freight segment.

“With the intended acquisition of Pilot, Maersk will extend its integrated logistics offering deeper into the supply chain of its customers,” the Danish shipping giant said in a news release Wednesday (Feb. 9).

The company says the deal will complement earlier acquisitions made to provide integrated logistics solutions in North America, especially in the areas of performance team B2B warehousing and distribution and visible SCM eCommerce warehousing and parcel distribution.

According to the company website,  Maserk is the world’s largest container shipping company, transporting 12 million containers each year, with services that include ocean transport, inland shipping, intercontinental rail and air freight.

Read more: Shipping Giant Maersk Clinches $3.6B Acquisition Deal for LF Logistics

In December, Maersk signed a $3.6 billion deal to acquire omnichannel fulfillment company LF Logistics Holdings.

That deal gave Maersk 549 warehouses globally and increased the company’s total warehouse floor capacity by 40%, creating the world’s seventh-largest contract logistics company behind the major players like UPS and DHL.

Pilot, meanwhile, operates a North American facilities-based transportation network of 87 stations and hubs that moves and distributes freight to end customers.

According to Maersk, the company primarily uses third party trucking firms and has access to controlled capacity, which facilitates a high quality first, middle and last mile service offering.

Based in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, Pilot is owned by private equity firm ATL Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of Canada’s largest institutional investors.

“Adding the capabilities of Pilot is especially important because it will allow us to create more exciting solutions for our customers and support them through the acceleration of the migration towards eCommerce,” said Vincent Clerc, Maersk’s CEO of ocean and logistics. “Furthermore, it will open significant cost synergy opportunities by leveraging the capabilities we have already developed in the network.”