A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has completed its acquisition of US-based Pilot Freight Services.

Maersk first announced its intention to acquire the company in February this year, aiming to further extend its integrated logistics offering.

The strategic move is said to benefit customers by offering customized international, domestic, and cross-border logistics to Maersk’s North America landside logistics capabilities for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) distribution models.

By acquiring Pilot, the Danish Giant extends its end-to-end offerings deeper into the North American supply chain of its customers.

“Our customers are looking for us to accelerate their supply chain speed, remove handoffs and constantly improve their end-to-end, omni-channel business model to reach their financial growth goals,” said Narin Phol, Regional Managing Director of Maersk North America.

“Pilot’s expertise and existing infrastructure enables us to achieve these goals by creating more agile, nimble supply chains to serve customers the way they want to be served.”

Zach Pollock, CEO of Pilot Freight Services, added: “Teaming up with an industry leader like Maersk is a natural fit and will enable our company to tap into significant, new future growth opportunities for our customers and employees.

“We like Maersk’s continuous improvement mindset and active investment pattern in expanding supply chain solutions, so we’re excited to work together in our expanded role.”

The transaction price of $1.68 billion equals to an enterprise value of $1.8 billion.

Maersk has also recently been crowned the second largest container carrier in the world by Alphaliner.

According to recent data, the shipping line has a total capacity of 4,242,430 TEU across 729 vessels – the largest fleet recorded. It also has 29 vessels with a combined capacity of 319,100 TEU on order.

MSC took the top spot with a total capacity of 4,352,617 TEU across 665 ships. A further 102 vessels with the ability to carry 1,338,468 TEU are currently on order.