Comment / M&A radar: MSC (vs Mærsk) – a bit Amazon, a bit UPS. With an eye on Schenker...

Geneva-based MSC chief executive Søren Toft (pictured below) must be rubbing his hands with glee.

In charge

With Mærsk, Toft’s previous employer, likely ending 2022 with a cash pile of at least $30bn* and smaller rival Hapag-Lloyd holding over, as disclosed yesterday, $10bn in cash and cash equivalents, the balance sheet of both totally unlevered – it’s certainly conceivable, with a fair margin of error, that MSC currently boasts minimum firepower of $25bn, base case.

(*As clearly emerged in a call with analysts ...