Shipping container makers Maersk and China International Marine Containers Group (CIMCC) have shelved plans to merge their refrigerated container businesses over concerns raised by antitrust watchdogs in Germany and the United States.
Maersk said the company regrets the failure of the nearly $1 billion takeover of its division by the Chinese group.
The US Department of Justice had previously warned of the Chinese group's market power resulting from a takeover, saying that the plans would put more than 90 percent of the refrigerated container market under the control of state-owned or state-controlled Chinese companies.
"The China International Marine Containers Group has been by far the leading supplier of refrigerated container boxes in this billion-euro market for many years," said the head of the Federal Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, on Friday.
According to the Bonn authority, customers from the container shipping industry would not have had any alternative options as a result of a merger.
The cartel office cooperated with the US authorities in the case.
The German antitrust authorities had already started a detailed examination of the plans in December.