Team size: ~250

Key team members: Caroline Pontoppidan, general counsel; Casper Munch, deputy general counsel; and regional general counsel Rene Koopman, Europe; Daan Slotema, APA; Maarten Hepkema IMEA; and Peter Jabbour, Americas.

Can you give an idea of the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Since 2016 where we radically changed the company’s strategy from a diversified conglomerate to a focus transportation and logistics company, we have made many divestments and acquisitions in 2022 including: Pilot – A Maersk Company is a leading U.S.-based first, middle and last mile as well as border crossing solutions provider, specialising in the big and bulky freight segment in North America for B2C and B2B distribution models, from ATL Partners, a sector-focused Private Equity firm in New York and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of the largest institutional investors in Canada; Senator International, a European based logistics company with deep airfreight expertise and a strong ocean background and network that are a strategic fit to our ambitions of providing end-to-end integrated supply chain solutions; Martin Bencher, a bulky freight segment provider with headquarter in Denmark and not least; and LF Logistics, a leading omni channel fulfillment company mainly operating in China and southeast Asia.

In addition to M&A, we have significantly grown our logistics business organically and streamlined the company.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

We believe AGI and machine learning can be a considerable advantage in the more repetitive part of our work, including, for example, claims handling.

How has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities?

We have a very ambitious ESG agenda, not least for climate, where we want to be net zero in 2040 across our business, including for all our vessels, where it is necessary to create a whole new green fuel industry to succeed. We use many resources on this, from ship and motor design to procuring and producing new fuel in all sorts of global corporations with governments and private players.