SEOUL, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Harim Holdings said on Wednesday that talks to take over South Korea's biggest container shipper HMM had fallen through, in a deal that sources said was worth nearly $5 billion.

Harim, chosen as the preferred bidder to buy HMM, has been negotiating a final deal with HMM creditors to take control of the shipper for several weeks but they failed to narrow gaps over rights to manage the shipper, the company said in a statement.

Earlier, Harim entered bidding via a consortium led by its bulk shipping unit Pan Ocean.

After news of the faltered talks, shares in HMM slid 4% in Wednesday morning trade versus the broader market's 1% rise. Pan Ocean shares jumped almost 20%, but Harim fell 4%.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Ed Davies)