The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has cleared the proposed merger between Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd (KSOE) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME).
The proposed plan would create the world’s largest shipbuilder with a market share of 20%.
Following its assessment, the Commission concluded that the Proposed Transaction, if carried into effect, will not infringe the section 54 prohibition of the Competition Act (Cap. 50B).
CCCS received an application from KSOE on 12 September 2019 for a decision on whether the Proposed Transaction would infringe section 54 of the Act, which prohibits mergers that have resulted, or may be expected to result, in a substantial lessening of competition within any market in Singapore.
As CCCS was unable to conclude that the Proposed Transaction will not result in a substantial lessening of competition after completing its preliminary review, CCCS proceeded with an in-depth review on 23 January 2020.
In its in-depth review, CCCS assessed whether the Proposed Transaction would substantially lessen competition, to the detriment of customers in Singapore.
As part of its review, CCCS assessed whether the Parties are close competitors and also whether alternative suppliers will be sufficiently strong competitors to the merged entity.
Although the Parties are close competitors to each other, and market share figures indicate that the Parties are two of the main suppliers globally for UL/VLCC 200,000+ DWT and LNG carriers 40,000+ cu.m., there are still viable alternative suppliers to the Parties in the Relevant Markets following the Proposed Transaction, CCCS explained. This finding is supported by market feedback and CCCS’s quantitative assessment on the closeness of rivalry between shipbuilders.
These alternative suppliers have sufficient excess capacities to satisfy a significant portion of any demand that switches away from the merged entity in the event of a price increase by the merged entity;
…CCCS said.
