Damco looking for acquisitions

In a bid to expand its freight forwarding business, Damco, the $2.7-billion logistics unit of the AP Moller-Maersk Group, is scouting for acquisitions in India. This comes at a time when the containerised cargo segment is growing at 12-15% annually on the back of improved economic activity.

“This year, we will be making investments in the warehousing space and also expand our freight forwarding business inorganically,” said Lars Sorensen, South Asia CEO of Damco. “We will look at a player with an Indian base and with a significant presence in air and ocean freight,” he added, declining to share specifics. “As a group, last year our net profit was about $5 billion, so the size of acquisition is not a worry for us,” he said.

The company has a wholly-owned subsidiary in the country Damco India — which currently operates in supply chain management, freight forwarding, ocean freight forwarding, warehousing and trucking space, with 480 employees. Currently, retail, heavy engineering, FMCG and automobile are the segments that contribute heavily to Damco India’s revenues.