Hanwha and Daewoo Shipbuilding Receive EU Merger Approval... Only Fair Trade Commission Remains

The European Union (EU) has approved the corporate merger between Hanwha and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), bringing Hanwha's acquisition of DSME to its final stages.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to industry sources on the 3rd, the EU Commission decided on the 31st of last month to approve the merger of the two companies. The provisional review results were initially scheduled to be notified on the 18th of this month, but the decision was made earlier than expected.

The EU had previously blocked the merger between Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and DSME last year, citing concerns over a monopoly in liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

Accordingly, all seven overseas competition authorities have judged that the merger between Hanwha and DSME is unlikely to restrict competition in their respective countries.

Earlier, Turkey was the first among the merger review countries to approve the merger in February, followed by approvals from Japan, Vietnam, China, and Singapore. The United Kingdom will conclude its review if no issues arise after the submission of the review documents.

The remaining decision lies with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). It is reported that the KFTC is currently examining issues related to the vertical merger between Hanwha's defense division and DSME's naval shipbuilding division.

The KFTC began reviewing the corporate merger on December 19th of last year. The review period is within 30 days after filing but can be extended up to 120 days.

Once domestic and international regulatory procedures are completed, Hanwha Group will inject 2 trillion won in new funds to acquire new shares of DSME, securing a controlling stake of 49.3%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.