Germany Blocks Sale of Logistics Firm Zippel to China's Cosco Group

The German government blocked the acquisition of an 80% stake in Hamburg-based logistics company Zippel by Chinese state-owned shipping group Cosco Shipping. The federal cabinet approved the prohibition on Wednesday, October 7, citing national security concerns that overturned a previous clearance granted on competition grounds.

Germany's Ministry of Economic Affairs noted that the deal would have deepened strategic dependencies and undermined the resilience of supply chains in Germany and the European Union. The country's antitrust authority had already given the green light to the deal in February, having determined that national security issues fell outside its remit, meaning it was the foreign investment review process that ultimately halted the transaction.

Zippel specializes in container haulage between seaports and inland destinations, moving cargo arriving at Hamburg and Bremerhaven to industrial hubs in eastern Germany via rail, road and inland waterways. The company handles between 35% and 90% of container volumes at inland terminals in Berlin, Schkopau and Elsterwerda, and also provides logistical support to NATO and the German armed forces, which raised objections from Germany's intelligence services.

Zippel CEO Axel Plass said in a statement that the company would have preferred a different outcome but still considers its commercial decision to have been the right one, adding that day-to-day operations will continue as before. Cosco did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

Cosco already holds a minority stake in a container terminal at the Port of Hamburg, the Container Terminal Tollerort. According to Datamar News, the previous German government approved that stake in 2023 despite strong disagreements within the coalition, while Splash 247 reports that Cosco had originally sought 35% of the terminal operator but was only allowed to take 24.99% following the German government's intervention in 2022. The decision on Zippel marks a stricter stance by Berlin toward Chinese investments, as Germany prepares tougher legislation to control acquisitions in strategic infrastructure.