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An A.P. Moller-Maersk container ship docked in Copenhagen.
AFP via Getty ImagesAyala Corp.—the holding company of billionaire Jaime Zobel de Ayala and his family—agreed to sell part of its logistics arm to Denmark’s A.P. Moller Capital as the Philippine conglomerate seeks to turn around the loss-making subsidiary.
Under the deal, A.P. Moller Capital—an investment vehicle of A.P. Moller Holding, which owns shipping giant A.P. Moller - Maersk—has agreed to buy 40% of AC Logistics, the Manila-based banking-to-property conglomerate said in a statement on Thursday. Financial details weren’t disclosed.
“AC Logistics has, in a short period, grown to be an important player in the logistics sector in the Philippines,” A.P. Moller Capital senior partner Lars Reno Jakobsen said, adding that they will work with Ayala to accelerate growth.
The transaction will be completed once the parties agree on the purchase price and certain conditions are met including regulatory approval and certain business milestones are fulfilled, according to Ayala.
“This potential transaction with A.P. Moller Capital reflects Ayala’s strong commitment to growing AC Logistics into an industry leader,” AC Logistics CEO Erry Hardianto said. “We are confident A.P. Moller Capital is the best partner for unlocking the many opportunities in this sector.”
Ayala disclosed in its audited 2023 accounts that it had invested about 7.9 billion ($137 million) in AC Logistics, which combined the group’s warehouse and last-mile delivery assets at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. While e-commerce transactions grew rapidly since then, AC Logistics remained in the red, incurring accumulated losses of 4.7 billion pesos as of end-September 2024.
Logistics is one of the businesses Ayala has entered into under the leadership of its Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II and brother Fernando. Deploying profits from the conglomerate’s bank and property, the core assets when they took leadership, the conglomerate has expanded into telecoms, energy, education, healthcare, electronic vehicle distribution and infrastructure.
“A country of 7,000 islands requires considerable logistics infrastructure, and we would like to help address this need,” Ayala CEO Cezar Consing said. “With partners like A.P. Moller Capital, we believe we can provide real solutions.”
Ayala Corp., one of the largest Philippine conglomerates, was started by the grandfather of Jaime Zobel de Ayala in 1834 as a distillery in Manila. The family has a net worth of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes Asia’s Philippine rich list published in August.
