CIMC and Maersk Drop Merger After DOJ Investigation, DOJ Says
Chinese shipping giant China International Marine Containers Group Co. ditched its effort to acquire Maersk Container Industry and Maersk Container Industry Qingdao Ltd. (collectively, MCI) following a DOJ investigation, DOJ announced. During the investigation, DOJ found that the merger would have combined two of the globe's four suppliers of insulated container boxes and refrigerated shipping containers and consolidated over 90% of insulated container box and refrigerated shipping container production under Chinese state-owned or state-controlled entities.
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“American consumers depend on the global cold supply chain for many of our everyday essentials,” Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said. “CIMC’s acquisition of MCI threatened to harm this critical aspect of our economy leading to higher prices, lower quality, and less resiliency in global supply chains. It would have cemented CIMC’s dominant position in an already consolidated industry and eliminated MCI as an innovative, independent competitor. The deal also would have substantially increased the risk of coordination among the remaining suppliers in the marketplace, most of whom would have been aligned through common ownership and related alliances.”