EU antitrust regulators will approve Maersk Line's acquisition of German peer Hamburg Sud after the world's biggest shipping company agreed to pull Hamburg Sud out from some trade route groups, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Maersk, part of A.P. Moller-Maersk, unveiled the bid in December last year, part of a wave of mergers in the industry seeking to deal with low freight rates and oversupply.
The concession was made to address the European Commission's concerns about the competitive impact of the deal, the source said.
The deal will strengthen the Danish company's presence in global trade, in particular in Latin America where Hamburg Sud has been long established.