AP Moller Holding buys Ocean Yield from KKR

AP Moller Holding has agreed to buy Norwegian ship-leasing specialist Ocean Yield, taking full ownership of the Lysaker-based company from funds managed by US investment firm KKR. No price was disclosed, and a subsidiary of the Danish investment house will hold 100% of the business.

Ocean Yield has grown substantially in recent years, investing more than $3bn in its fleet and almost doubling its long-term contracted backlog to over $5bn. The company holds interests in more than 70 vessels spanning gas and LNG carriers, containerships, crude, product and chemical tankers, dry bulk carriers and offshore units.

For AP Moller Holding, the deal adds a large leasing platform with steady, contracted cash flows across multiple shipping segments. Chief financial officer Martin Larsen described Ocean Yield's model as a strong complement to the group's existing maritime interests, while Ocean Yield chief executive Andreas Rode said the company had become a globally diversified leasing platform since being taken private in 2021.

The buyer paid about $830m for Ocean Yield in that 2021 take-private, ending nine years on the Oslo exchange. KKR will stay involved as a strategic partner through the CapeOmega gas transportation venture, a joint investment with exposure to 10 LNG carriers operated by Knutsen LNG and chartered to Shell, Engie and QatarEnergy.

The purchase caps a steady expansion of the Danish group's maritime holdings, which has included Maersk Supply Service in 2023, Maersk Tankers' takeover of Penfield Marine in early 2024, and the take-private of tug operator Svitzer last year. Completion remains subject to customary regulatory approvals.