A.P. MOLLER GOES AHEAD WITH MERGER PLAN

A.P. MOLLER GOES AHEAD WITH MERGER PLAN    The boards of directors of Aktieselskabet Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg and Dampskibsselskabet af 1912 Aktieselskab — the two main stock market-listed arms of the A.P. Moller group — have adopted a plan to merge into a single company to be named A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S.
   Subject to approval by shareholders, the merger will be effective retroactive to Jan. 1. It would simplify the complex historical structure of the group. Today, each of the two listed companies owns 50 percent of the group’s two main operating companies, called “Tankers and Liners in Partnership” and “Oil and Gas in Partnership.”
   Extraordinary general meetings of shareholders will be held on June 12 for Aktieselskabet Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg (“Svendborg”) and June 10 for Dampskibsselskabet af 1912 Aktieselskab (“1912”).
   The two companies are the nucleus of the gigantic A.P. Moller group, the largest industrial group in Denmark. The group’s shipping activities, including those of mega-carrier Maersk Sealand, rank among the largest in the world shipping industry.
   The extraordinary general meetings will be asked to approve the merger plan and a proposal to increase the share capital of each of the two companies, through bonus shares.
   Upon the merger, the 1912 listed company will be dissolved and their assets and liabilities transferred to the Svendborg company. The “Tankers and Liners in Partnership” and “Oil and Gas in Partnership” will also cease to exist, and their assets and liabilities will be taken over by Svendborg. Following the merger, Svendbord will be renamed A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S. It will be headquartered in Copenhagen.
   “The background of the merger is that the historic basis for the formation of Aktieselskabet Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg and Dampskibsselskabet af 1912 Aktieselskab, including their separate activities, has changed over the years and no longer exists,” the A.P. Moller group said in a merger statement. “The natural consequence is to create a more simple structure.”