The Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Møller-Mærsk would now split up into two new entities – one that will cater to its transport business and another one to look after the energy division. This announcement was made by the company on Thursday.

“The industries are challenged and we have not really been able to grow our top line,” Mærsk Group CEO Søren Skou told the media on Thursday.

According to data provider Alphaliner, when measured in terms of TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), Møller-Mærsk is the world’s biggest shipping company and has command over around 15 percent of the total global capacity of liner fleets.

In the future, the company would mainly focus on the development of its transportation and logistics services, Mærsk said. The company may choose any one of the means – individually or in combination by joint ventures, mergers or listing, to separate its energy business fomr the rest of the company, it said.

“We expect to do that within the next two years,” Skou told CNBC on Thursday.

The company is in a problem with both its business interests. As global shipping freight capacity has expanded, the shipping business of the company has struggled with record low freight prices. On the other hand, the slump in crude prices since July 2014 has badly hit Mærsk’s oil division. The impact was visible in the most recent financial reports of the company. The second quarter results announced by the company in August saw it reporting net profits that were around 90 percent lower than the same period last year and were far below expectations.

“There is a consolidation wave going on in container shipping… we would want to participate going forward,” Skou told CNBC. The company had no concrete plans in that direction at the moment, Skou added.

Rather than waiting for global crude oil prices to recover, the energy industry needed to work out thrives with crude at $45 per barrel, Skou said with regards to oil prices. Skou is of the view that in historical terms, $45 was “pretty high” even though oil prices had peaked above $100 per barrel in the run-up to the slump from July 2014 onward.

Mersk A- and B-shares traded over 3 percent higher on Thursday in Copenhagen. Since the strategic review was first announced in June, the shares have rallied.

“Obviously, we have been looking for a longer time at what to do,” Skou told the media.

The role of the CEO of the transport and logistics division and the  Group CEO of Mærsk would be seen over by Skou. The CEO of the energy business and the Group Vice-CEO of Mærsk would be Claus Hemmingsen who will be appointed on October 1.

(Adapted from CNBC)