Business Data
Global Company Strategy - APL - Q2 2015
APL is the container s hipping brand of Sing apore-bas ed Neptune Orient Lines (NOL). NOL was formed in 1968 , but as s umed its current form in 1997 when it merg ed with American Pres ident Lines (APL). NOL remains the holding company lis ted on the Sing apore Stock Exchang e. The Sing apore g overnment maintains a majority s take in the company throug h a number of inves tment firms . NOL beg an life as Sing apore's national s hipping carrier, three years after the country became an independent s tate. The g overnment-owned company at firs t operated jus t five ves s els , and achieved its initial profit by the mid-19 70 s when its fleet had expanded to 20 vess els . It held a USD10 5mn initial public offering (IPO) in 1981. The g roup divers ified into tanker operations in the early 1990 sunder the brands American Eag le Tankers (AET) and Neptune As s ociated Shipping (NAS). US-bas ed APL dates back to 1848 . The company, orig inally called the Pacific Mail Steams hip Company, beg an to focus on container s hipping in the 19 50 s . Since the merg er, NOL has continued to direct its bus ines s towards the container market, dives ting tanker s ubs idiaries AET and NAS in 2003. It boas ts a terminal operating bus ines s , APL Terminals , and in 20 0 1 als o es tablis hed APL Log is tics in a bid to s treng then product s upply chains. However, in February 20 15 NOL s old APL Log is tics (s ubject to s hareholder and reg ulatory approvals ), calling it a s trateg ic move allowing the company to focus on improving its liner s hipping bus ines s .