Germany blocks Cosco purchase of 80% of Hamburg logistics firm Zippel

The German government has prohibited the sale of 80% of the Hamburg logistics company Zippel to the Chinese state-owned shipping company Cosco. A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs said this on 7 October 2026 after a cabinet meeting. The ministry said it would issue the formal prohibition order afterwards. The spokesperson said the reason was security concerns.

"The acquisition would have deepened dependencies and endangered the resilience of supply chains in Germany and the EU," the spokesperson said (translated from German). Germany, as Europe's largest economy, welcomes foreign investment, the spokesperson said. "At the same time, there can be investments that endanger the security of the country."

The government can review, case by case, the acquisition of a German company by a foreign investor under the Foreign Trade and Payments Act and the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance, the spokesperson said. The test is whether the acquisition would likely endanger public order or security, according to the spokesperson.

The Federal Cartel Office said in February that Cosco could take over 80% of Zippel's shares from a competition standpoint. At the end of April it became known that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had concerns about the takeover, according to Tagesschau.

Zippel transports goods by train, ship and truck, including goods that arrive at the seaports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven, according to Tagesschau. The company has around 350 employees, according to earlier figures cited by Tagesschau.

Cosco is one of the world's largest shipping companies by transport volume, according to Tagesschau. It already holds 24.99% of the Hamburg container terminal Tollerort. In 2022, a political dispute broke out in the then German government over whether to allow the Chinese stake, and the cabinet decided to permit a Cosco shareholding below 25%.