Maersk chairman to leave board as family member takes over

A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S’s chairman, Jim Hagemann Snabe, is leaving his position to pave the way for a Maersk family member to take over the job of overseeing the Danish shipping giant.

Robert Maersk Uggla, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, has been nominated to become chairman at next month’s annual general meeting. Uggla, 43, is chief executive officer of AP Moller Holding A/S, which invests the wealth of the Maersk family.

Snabe, the chairman of Siemens AG and a former executive at software giant SAP SE, joined Maersk’s board in 2016 to help drive a digital transformation of the Copenhagen-based shipping line. Earlier this month, Snabe said he will step down as deputy chairman of Allianz SE amid investor concerns that he sits on too many boards.

Snabe, 56, said it’s the right time for a “generational change” at Maersk, according to a statement on Tuesday. Uggla, who has been a board member since 2014, “has played a central role in the restructuring and transformation,” Snabe said.

The Maersk family controls about 55% of the share capital and 71% of the votes in the transport company, through AP Moller Holding and two other funds.

Maersk also said that Vice Chairman Ane Maersk McKinney Uggla, who’s the mother of Robert Maersk Uggla, won’t stand for re-election at next month’s AGM. Marc Engel, the outgoing chief chief supply chain officer at Unilever Plc, has been nominated to become the new vice-chairman.

Robert Maersk Uggla will probably continue the shipping line’s current strategy of expanding land-based logistics, including via takeovers, Brian Borsting a credit analyst at Danske Bank, said in a note.