United Shipping & Trading Company (USTC) has a long-term strategy to make itself less dependent on oil, but the ambition is challenged by expensive acquisition prices.

CEO Nina Østergaard Borris tells business daily Børsen that higher interest rates and inflation are making it harder for the company to diversify its business through acquisitions.

”It’s no secret that the market has been going up for a number of years. This has made some acquisitions difficult for us, they have simply been too expensive. Of course, we look not only at the price, but also at the strategic match, but it has been a bit too expensive for us, and we have also had a lot of focus on integrating the companies we have acquired,” says Nina Østergaard Borris.

USTC comprises the world’s largest supplier of marine fuels, Bunker Holding. The group is owned by founder Torben Østergaard-Nielsen and his two daughters.