AP Moller-Maersk will be not be pursuing any billion-dollar takeovers in the foreseeable future.
The Danish shipowner and operator is preferring to focus on niche acquisitions rather than the kind of blockbuster deal that saw it buy boxship rival Hamburg Sud for $4bn in 2017.
Maersk announced on Monday it would pay $279m for Swedish customs processing company KGH Customs Services.
"We're looking for platforms that we can take into Maersk and help us to grow," Vincent Clerc, chief executive of the company's ocean and logistics division, told the Borsen newspaper.
"We don't need something that is too wide and big, because then we end up getting a lot of things in the store that we don't need."
Expanded customs presence
The KGH deal expanded its presence in the customs sector from 15 to 22 countries with a product that Clerc said is "better" than Maersk's own.
The group's strategy is to own the entire transport chain for containers.
Maersk is buying Gothenburg-based KGH on a cash and debt-free basis from private equity group Bridgepoint Development Capital.
The Danish shipping giant said the acquisition would create "a solid platform" for growth in customs services in Europe.
Maersk expects the deal to lead to annual Ebitda synergies of around SEK 50m to 75m ($5.4m to $8m).
"There are no end-to-end solutions without customs clearance," Clerc had said on Monday.
