BERLIN - Saudi Arabia's Bahri has dropped its bid for German rail operator Deutsche Bahn's logistics unit Schenker, narrowing the field to DSV and CVC, two people familiar with the sale told Reuters on Thursday.

The departure means state-owned Deutsche Bahn, which last year put Schenker up for sale to reduce its debt, needs to lower its sights on proceeds because Bahri's offer had been the highest at more than 15 billion euros ($16.4 billion), the sources said.

Final bids are due at the end of August, they added.

The lower bound of the bidding range so far was at about 13 billion euros, sources have told Reuters.

Deutsche Bahn, with more than 34 billion euros in debt, said it would not comment on individual suitors as a matter of principle.

The Saudi company, which is also known as the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Danish shipping group Maersk said earlier this month it was no longer interested in buying Schenker, citing "areas of challenges from an integration perspective".

CVC has been pursuing the business in a consortium with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and investor GIC, sources have said.

The global third-party logistics market size is estimated to grow by more than $500 billion from 2023 to 2027, driven by e-commerce and integrated shipping services, according to research group Technavio.

High operational costs and competitive pricing are seen as a challenge for the sector. Schenker competes with AP Moller Maersk, Baltic Logistics Group, Kuehne&Nagel and DHL, among others.

Schenker has over 70,000 employees in around 130 countries worldwide, including about 15,000 in Germany.

($1 = 0.9169 euros)

(Reporting by Markus Wacket Writing by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Rachel More and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)