Germany has blocked COSCO’s planned acquisition of an 80% stake in Hamburg-based logistics company Konrad Zippel, citing national security concerns and the need to protect the resilience of German and European supply chains.
The German government said the acquisition could deepen strategic dependencies and create risks for critical supply chains. The decision came despite Germany’s antitrust authority having previously cleared the transaction, as national security considerations fall outside its competition review.
Zippel operates road, rail and inland-waterway logistics services, moving containers between major ports including Hamburg and Bremerhaven and inland destinations. The company is therefore an important part of Germany’s broader freight and logistics network.
COSCO had announced plans to acquire the majority stake earlier this year. The proposed transaction had attracted scrutiny because of COSCO’s existing involvement in Hamburg’s port infrastructure and concerns about increasing Chinese ownership in strategic logistics assets.
Zippel CEO Axel Plass said the company would have preferred a different outcome but confirmed that its day-to-day operations would continue as normal. COSCO had not immediately issued a detailed response.
The decision highlights growing European scrutiny of foreign investment in ports, logistics and other strategic infrastructure as governments seek to reduce supply-chain dependencies while continuing to attract international investment.