Maersk buys Asian warehouse giant LF Logistics in a $3.6-bn takeover

A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S is buying an Asian warehouse specialist in a transaction worth $3.6 billion in enterprise value, expanding its push into land-based logistics that’s become more profitable than its traditional sea-container business. 

The world’s biggest container line is acquiring Hong Kong-based LF Logistics in an all-cash deal, it said on Wednesday. The transaction is second only to its $4 billion takeover of Hamburg Sued in 2017. 

Maersk, which transports about a fifth of the world’s containers at sea, has decided to expand in land-based logistics where there’s more potential for growth and profit margins are higher. Earlier this year,