It acquired more than 99% of the company through a Viennabased subsidiary and has now had final approval from the relevant authorities.

Norbert Bensel, chairman of DB Schenker, said: "With Romtrans under the corporate umbrella of DB Schenker, we are significantly expanding our presence in Romania. We are now in a position to enhance our trans-European services and will in future be able to satisfy the expectations of our international customers better than ever before."

Elmar Wieland, chairman of Schenker (Vienna), said: "The combination of the dense infrastructure operated by Romtrans and DB Schenker’s international network is an extremely promising one that will open up tremendous opportunities for us for the future."

Deutsche Bahn said it wanted its logistics subsidiary to have a greater share of the market and wanted to exploit new customer in the region.

Romtrans is based in Bucharest and has revenues of more than €90m (US130m) and around 1,500 employees.

DB Schenker recently won a NKr63m (US$9.46m) three-year deal with Scandinavian Business Seating.

The contract with the Oslobased manufacturer began in December and includes the option to extend the agreement for a further two years.