A.P. Moller Maersk (Maersk) has confirmed that it has withdrawn from the bid for DB Schenker.

Reuters reported that Maersk’s reason behind pulling out from the bid was that there would be too many challenges to integrate the logistics firm.

In December 2023, Deutsche Bahn AG launched the sale process for DB Schenker.

Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk, stated: “Our investigation confirmed DB Schenker as an interesting company. But the in-depth review also identified areas of challenges from an integration perspective.”

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

According to Reuters, Deutsche Bahn chose Maersk, DSV, Bahri, and CVC (CVC.AX) to join the final round of the selling process.

Reuters added that approximately one or more of the four bids from a previous round topped 15 billion euros ($16.13 billion). Other proposals ranged from €13 billion ($13.9 billion) to €14 billion ($15 billion).

In June, Maersk launched its first low GHG emissions warehouse in Taulov Dry Port in Fredericia, Denmark.