Maersk Family Buys COVID-19 Test Maker Unilabs

By Christian Wienberg (Bloomberg) —

AP Moller Holding A/S, which invests the wealth of the billionaire Maersk family, has agreed to buy Covid-19 test maker and diagnostics company Unilabs to expand into health care.

APM Holding, whose main asset is a controlling stake in shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, will pay an undisclosed sum to private equity firm Apax Partners, according to a statement on Friday. 

Bloomberg News reported last month that a sale of Unilabs could fetch about $5 billion.

Unilabs, which employs 12,600 people and has annual revenue of about 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion), is currently investing in technology to fight Covid-19 and provides virus tests in more than 15 countries, APM Holding said.

The purchase marks a new focus for the Copenhagen-based holding company and its billionaire owners, the Maersk family, which have built their fortune on shipping and oil. It fits with APM Holding’s new mission statement to invest in firms that have a positive impact on society, Chief Executive Officer Robert Maersk Uggla said in the statement.

“We see the opportunity to grow the company’s operations to new markets,” Maersk Uggla said. Unilabs offers “important and immediate solutions to countries having limited access to critical health care solutions.”

APM Holding is set to receive a windfall in dividends at the start of next year as its shipping company is heading for a record $17 billion in 2021 net income.

© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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