A.P. Moller-Maersk may sell bonds after discussions with investors to diversify its financing sources and to raise funds for new investments, the Journal of Commerce reports.
Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Danske Bank, HSBC Holdings and Royal Bank of Scotland Group are arranging the meetings, two people with knowledge of the potential sale told Bloomberg news. They declined to be identified because the information isn’t public.
“We are having a series of meetings with investors to explore a possible bond issue, which is nothing extraordinary,” said Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for the company in Copenhagen. “We want to diversify our sources of financing, and bonds are an option,” he said.
Maersk sold bonds worth $1.85 billion in three separate issues for the first time last year, and held the biggest share sale in its 106-year history in a tight global lending market. The company, which owns Maersk Line, APM Terminals and oil and gas wells in the North Sea, lifted its 2010 profit forecast this week for the third time in four months as freight rates and trade volume recover.
A.P. Moller-Maersk wants to invest in its oil and gas business and in port terminals, its CEO, Nils Smedegaard Andersen said Nov. 10. There aren’t many cheap distressed assets available for purchase despite the financial crisis, he said.
Maersk sold bonds worth $1.85 billion in three separate issues for the first time last year, and held the biggest share sale in its 106-year history in a tight global lending market. The company, which owns Maersk Line, APM Terminals and oil and gas wells in the North Sea, lifted its 2010 profit forecast this week for the third time in four months as freight rates and trade volume recover.
A.P. Moller-Maersk wants to invest in its oil and gas business and in port terminals, its CEO, Nils Smedegaard Andersen said Nov. 10. There aren’t many cheap distressed assets available for purchase despite the financial crisis, he said.
Moller-Maersk’s third-quarter earnings before interest and taxes almost tripled to $3.1 billion. The company is trying to recover from its first annual net loss in at least half a century after the shipping market contracted in 2009 for the first time since containers became the world’s standard means of carrying freight in the 1970s.
The Danish company’s net income before minority interests is expected to reach $5 billion this year, the company said recently.