Maersk Announces Demerger of Svitzer

Global shipping giant Maersk has announced its intention to demerge and separately list its towage and marine services business, Svitzer. 

Under its plans, Maersk’s board of directors has made the decision to divest itself of Svitzer via a demerger.  As part of the demerger, the shares in Svitzer and its subsidiaries (as well as certain other related assets and liabilities) will be contributed by Maersk to a new legal entity under the name of Svitzer Group A/S.

As per a statement issued by Maersk, the demerger is part of the company’s efforts to "simplify its business and focus on integrated logistics". 

As of 2022, Svitzer reported a revenue of (US)$774m and an EBITDA of (US)$229m.  2023 saw these figures grow, with a revenue of (US)$839m and EBITDA of (US)$246m.

Originally founded in 1833, Svitzer is a major global player in towage and associated marine services.  In fact, every three to four minutes, a ship relies on Svitzer for safe towage in and out of a busy port or terminal.  Vessels of all kinds, including cargo and container ships, tankers, and car carriers, etc, rely on Svitzer to manoeuvre them for the first and last mile of their journeys. 

Today, Svitzer operates more than 450 vessels, serving more than 2,000 customers in more than 140 ports and 40 terminals across 37 countries.

Ahead of Svitzer’s intended listing on Nasdaq Copenhagen, the company has made a number of key appointments including Christian Lintner as Head of Treasury, and Michael Nass Nielsen as Head of Investor Relations and Financial Planning & Analysis.

Svitzer has also published a prospectus forming the basis for admission to trading and official listing of the shares of Svitzer Group A/S (Svitzer Group) on Nasdaq Copenhagen.

Having been part of Maersk for more than four decades, Svitzer now faces the prospect of navigating an independent path.  For many companies, this would represent a daunting prospect.  But, as senior Svitzer executive Lise Demant told The Maritime Executive the company’s staff will be key to its success as an independent entity:

“People really make the difference in towage.  Anyone can buy the equipment off-the-shelf.  It’s the skill, the passion and the experience of the people that make a towage company great.  This is an area of focus for me; it’s essential to have people who care about Svitzer’s future in the organisation.  We have people within the company whose families have worked here for generations, and I learn from them every day”.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Svitzer’s CEO Kasper Nilaus:

“We are organisationally, financially, and operationally ready for a future as a stand-alone listed company”.

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