Career
Dive Brief:
- A.P. Moller - Maersk acquired New Jersey-based customs broker Vandegrift for an undisclosed sum on Feb. 8, according to a release from the ocean carrier.
- The acquisition will roughly triple the staff, transactions and revenue of Maersk's existing brokerage business in North America, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- The 68-year-old brokerage firm specializes in trade compliance and comes with a team of former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, and staff with backgrounds in customs brokerage, retail and law, Maersk said. The brokerage will now be called Vandegrift — a Maersk Company.
Dive Insight:
The Danish ocean carrier, along with several of its competitors, has been working in recent years to offer more inclusive supply chains services to bolster margins and brand loyalty.
In 2016, when CEO Søren Skou took the helm, he quickly set a course to dial down Maersk's reliance on the energy industry and build up its logistics services, which offer more consistent profits. The carrier merged Maersk Line with its logistics arm Damco last year, calling the move "the next step in the Maersk journey to become a global, integrated container transport and logistics company."