AP Moeller Maersk A/S’ share price up, announces a 10-year pact with MSC over vessels sharing

The worlds top two container-shipping carriers – AP Moeller Maersk A/S and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. revealed yesterday that they have reached an agreement to share vessels on some of the busiest trade routes in the world. The step of the two companies comes after a proposal for a three-way alliance was banned by the Chinese regulatory authorities.

The Chief Executive Officer of Maersk line – Mr. Soren Skou commented on the deal for the Financial Times: “We will have bigger ships on average, more calling at ports directly rather than using transshipment, and the network speeds will come down – all of that means we will have lower slot costs and lower fuel costs.”

According to a statement made by Maersk Line, the 10-year alliance between the two companies will include Asia-Europe, Transatlantinc and Transpacific routes and will include 185 ships.

The new alliance is called by the companies 2M and seeks to help the partners reduce some costs. Maersk Line was hoping that the three-way alliance, which was known as P3, would have been even more beneficial, but Chinese regulators blocked it. Fortunately, the new partnership is not expected to encounter the opposition of the countrys regulators, because the extent of the agreement is fundamentally smaller.

Now, under terms of the agreement, the vessels of AP Moeller Maersk A/S and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. will be shared on a total of 21 regular routes. About 110 vessels will be provided by Maersk Line, which amounts to about 55% of the total capacity of the deal. The two companies announce that they expect their arrangement to become effective in early 2015.

AP Moeller Maersk A/S was adding 0.75% to trade at 13,460 Danish kroner per share by 8:11 GMT, marking a one year change of +51.58%. According to the information published on the Financial Times, the 22 analysts offering 12-month price targets for AP Moeller Maersk A/S have a median target of 15,500, with a high estimate of 17,700 and a low estimate of 10,200.06. The median estimate represents a 16.02% increase from the last price of 13,360.