Under the European Merger Regulation, the European Commission announced the approval of a newly-proposed joint venture between the French shipping company CMA CGM and China International Marine Containers Neocontainer Logistics Limited (CIMC Neocontainer), part of CIMC Group.
In fact, two scrubber manufacturers backed by Frontline and Navig8 Group have completed a merger to create one of the world’s biggest suppliers of exhaust gas cleaning kits. Namely, Clean Marine has finalized the tie-up with FMSI, as planned earlier in October.
An in-depth Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) review has provisionally found that the proposed merger between Prosafe and Floatel raises competition concerns. According to the UK CMA, both companies supply semi-submersible offshore accommodation support vessels (semi-submersible ASVs) to oil and gas companies, which are consequently used to provide accommodation space for employees working offshore and are a key facility for some types of work in the North Sea.
Several days ago, the European Commission has started a full-scale investigation to assess the proposed takeover of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) by the Hyundai Heavy Industries Group (HHI). The investigation completed on 17 December while was carried out under the EU Merger Regulation.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co Ltd’s $1.8 billion merger with rival shipbuilder Daewoo is expected to face a full-scale investigation in Europe due to serious EU antitrust concerns. Reuters now reports that the European Commission will launch an investigation into the deal in the following days, after a preliminary review ends on Tuesday, December 17.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) expressed concerns over the proposed merger between two South Korean shipbuilding giants, DSME and KSOE, part of Hyundai Heavy, noting that this could remove competition between two main suppliers of LNG carriers to the detriment of customers in Singapore.
Following contradictory statements, China announced Friday the merger of the country’s two state-owned shipbuilding giants, China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) and China Shipbuilding Industry Co (CSIC), in a move expected to boost competitiveness of Chinese shipbuilding industry.
Clean Marine AS and FMSI announced that they will merge. The combined entity, which will operate under the name Clean Marine, aims to better position Clean Marine to meet the needs of its customers and the increasing demand for EGCS.
The Port of Antwerp, Europe’s second busiest port, and the Port of Zeebrugge have started discussions on a potential merger after almost two years of exploratory talks and a study regarding how the two ports could collaborate more. As the two ports said in a joint statement, the negotiations on the possible merger could last another two years.
The Norwegian competition authority has issued a Statement of objections to Floatel and Prosafe regarding the proposed merger, on September 16. However, Floatel and Prosafe released a statement, saying that they do not agree with the NCA decision.
