International shipping giant Maersk has completed the acquisition of the cross-border delivery firm B2C Europe for £63 million.

The Netherlands based B2C Europe has been operating for 20 years and is an asset-light delivery product that uses technical integrations to collect parcels and its customers’ warehouses and ‘injects’ them into European carrier networks.

The product includes labelling services, pick-ups, parcel sorting, line-haul and putting the parcels into more than 100 partner carriers in 35 European countries. It is present in the UK, Netherlands, France and Spain and has offices in China too.

This is not the first move into e-commerce this year on the part of Maersk – it has already acquired US based logistics company Visible SCM and Portugal’s logistics startup Huub.

Vincent Clerc, executive vice president and CEO of ocean and logistics at A.P. Moller – Maersk, said, “Our logistics product line-up growth continues to support our long-term plans to help customers sell through any sales channel, deliver in any way and manage their supply chains seamlessly. This year, by adding Visible SCM, Huub and now B2C Europe’s capabilities, we set out the foundation to upscale our platform and e-commerce skills globally, building product returns cycles and defining B2C supply chain success.”

José Vega Vázquez, CEO at B2C Europe, said, “We very much look forward to the journey ahead. We put expertise and skills on the table that will enable Maersk’s customers to take full control and drive flexibility into their B2C supply chains.”