A.P. Moller Capital to buy Portek and Euroports parent in 60-terminal push

A.P. Moller Capital is set to take operational control of more than 50 terminals across Europe and China, plus seven more in Africa, Asia and Europe, under two pending acquisitions worth a combined target business that turned over €1.028 billion in 2024.

The investment arm of A.P. Moller Holding — the family-owned group behind the world's second-largest container line, Maersk — has agreed to buy 100% of Singapore-based Portek International and a 53.35% controlling stake in Thaumas N.V., the parent of Belgium's Euroports. Both deals await regulatory approval. Neither purchase price has been disclosed.

The Portek agreement, announced on October 15, 2026, will see A.P. Moller Capital acquire the operator from Japan's Mitsui & Co. through its Emerging Markets Infrastructure Fund II. It follows a September 28 agreement to buy the Euroports parent stake from shareholders including R-Logitech. Belgian investment institutions SFPIM and PMV will keep their stakes in Euroports after completion.

What does the deal actually buy?

Two distinct businesses. Euroports runs more than 50 deep-sea and inland terminals across 10 European countries and China, moving over 70 million tonnes of cargo a year. Its terminals sit inside agricultural and industrial supply chains — fertilisers, metals, minerals, forest products and other commodities routed through international trading centres. The company also runs freight-forwarding services alongside its core handling operations.

Portek is smaller but broader in scope. It adds container handling, vehicle shipments, bulk cargo operations and port engineering services to the Danish investor's portfolio. Its terminals handle 7 million tonnes of bulk cargo, 700,000 containers and 90,000 vehicles annually.

The money is real. Figures cited by ratings agency Moody's put Euroports' 2024 revenue at €1.028 billion, up 11% year on year, with EBITDA of €108 million.

Why Africa sits at the centre of this

Portek's operations in Algeria and Gabon form the African component of the deal. In Algeria, Portek operates Bejaia Mediterranean Terminal through a partnership with the local port authority. The facility has an annual container-handling capacity of 300,000 TEUs.

In Gabon, Portek works through Gabon Port Management, which runs facilities at Owendo, near Libreville, and Port-Gentil, handling containers, vehicles and general cargo.

The structure matters. Rather than buying ports outright or building new facilities, A.P. Moller Capital is taking ownership stakes in established operators. That spreads exposure across container terminals, cargo handling and international logistics networks — including trade routes serving African commerce — while someone else carries the greenfield risk.

A.P. Moller Capital chief executive Kim Fejfer framed the investment as a bet on trade continuity. "In a changing world, resilient supply chains and secure trade flows are increasingly essential to economic stability and growth," Fejfer said.

What does this change for shippers?

In the near term, little. Euroports' commodity and agricultural customers, and Portek's container and ro-ro clients in Africa and Asia, will see the same terminals under new controlling ownership. The commercial question is longer-term: whether A.P. Moller Capital's capital and network push volume growth through terminals that already cleared 70 million tonnes a year on the Euroports side alone.

For carriers and forwarders, the consolidation puts a deep-pocketed infrastructure investor behind a 60-plus terminal footprint spanning Europe, China, Algeria and Gabon. For competitors in port handling, it signals that private capital still rates mid-size terminal operators with diversified cargo mixes — commodities, containers, vehicles — as acquisition targets.

Completion rests on regulatory approvals in multiple jurisdictions. If both deals clear, A.P. Moller Capital's interests in global logistics and port management will extend materially further into African trade routes and European inland corridors than at any point in its history.