Maersk pulls out of bidding for Germany's DB Schenker, shares spike

FILE PHOTO: Containers are seen on the Maersk's Triple-E giant container ship Majestic Maersk, one of the world's largest container ships, next to cranes at the APM Terminals in the port of Algeciras, Spain January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Danish shipping group Maersk said on Monday it is no longer interested in buying DB Schenker as integrating the logistics firm would pose too many challenges.

German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn last year launched a sale process for its logistics arm and Maersk has previously said it was considering buying it.

"Our investigation confirmed DB Schenker as an interesting company ... But the in-depth review also identified areas of challenges from an integration perspective," Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said in a statement.

"We concluded that acquiring DB Schenker would not be the right thing to do for our business at this time".

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in May that Deutsche Bahn had chosen Maersk, DSV, Bahri and CVC in consortium with ADIA and GIC to enter the final round of a sale process.

One or more of the bids submitted by the four in an earlier round exceeded 15 billion euros ($16.13 billion), the sources said. Other bids came in between 13 billion and 14 billion euros, one of the sources added.

Maersk shares were up 6%, and Danish freight forwarder DSV's shares 5% higher, shortly after the announcement.

($1 = 0.9302 euros)

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Alexander Smith)