I contend that they didn't even know about the bidding.
America is a world leader in many things. Container terminal operations is not one of them. It seems that some small countries have developed world-wide connections in the business of shipping.
When the P&O Navigation Company decided to offer some of its operations for sale, companies in that business certainly knew about it.
The discussion in CFIUS is what has to be secret so as not to influence shareholder value, etc during the process.
It'd be a better idea to have the Pods Company get into the port business.