UPDATE: June 2, 2022: A.P. Moller - Maersk announced Thursday it had completed the acquisition of Senator International. The deal was valued at $644 million, assuming an unchanged foreign exchange rate.

Dive Brief:

• A.P. Moller - Maersk is looking to expand its airfreight capabilities in 2022 in order to build logistics resilience into its supply chain services, according to a customer advisory.
• On Tuesday, Maersk announced it is acquiring Senator International, a Hamburg, Germany-based freight forwarder that operates 19 weekly flights. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2022.
• Maersk also said it had added five planes to its Star Air cargo fleet via three leases of B767s starting in 2022 and two orders of newly built B777Fs, expected in 2024.

Dive Insight:

In yet another deal to grow-via-acquisition, Maersk is looking to expand its air cargo fleet in 2022 so it can provide shippers with alternative transportation that avoids port and over-the-road capacity constraints.

"Air freight is a crucial enabler of flexibility in our customers' supply chains. Therefore, as a natural next step in expanding our integrated logistics offering, we are ramping up our service within air freight," Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk Ocean & Logistics, said in a press release published by Senator International.

Senator International's 64 offices worldwide and 1,700 employees provide a wide suite of supply chain services including logistics, packaging and transport via air, ocean, truck or rail. But its airfreight services are core for the forwarder, bringing in 65% of the company's revenue in 2020, according to the company's press release.

Torben Bengtsson, global head of air & LCL at Maersk, described Maersk as a "mid-sized global air freight player" in the company's customer advisory. But the company has bigger goals.

"Our aim is to become a considerable player in the air freight industry so we can offer you extended global routes and capacity to help you seize and optimise all relevant sector opportunities," the advisory reads.

Star Air's current fleet includes 15 airplanes "mainly operating in Europe," according to the company's Q3 interim report. While Senator International will help expand Maersk's reach as soon as the acquisition closes in 2022, buying and leasing new aircraft will be pivotal to growing its international airfreight capacity.

The two new builds Maersk ordered from Boeing reflect that goal.

"The B777F is the only suitable aircraft for optimal long-range intercontinental operations, and it is 10-15% more fuel efficient than older aircraft types," Maersk's customer advisory reads.

Still, Star Air's fleet is miniscule compared to some of the existing leaders in air cargo. By comparison, FedEx operates 684 aircraft including 47 B777Fs.