The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of the Wincanton’s continental business by German company Rhenus, saying it did not raise competition concerns.
Wincanton announced that it was selling all its remaining continental businesses to Rhenus for £38 million in August. Rhenus will also take over responsibility for a pension deficit of £26m.
Competition concerns centred on barge operations on the Rhine. However, the commission said it was satisfied that this would not be a problem because of the presence of alternative barge container terminals with spare capacities, the specific regulatory regime for terminal services in Germany and the competitive pressure exercised by rail links to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp ports.
