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.
Dubai-based port operator DP World is expected to complete merger of its P&O Maritime and recently-acquired Topaz Energy and Marine businesses by the end of the year, Topaz CEO Rene Kofod-Olsen said on Monday. DP World bought Dubai-based oil services company Topaz in July.
MOL Nordic Tankers (MOLNT) informed that a full integration process of the company into MOL Chemical Tankers (MOLCT) has began, and is expected to be completed within 2020. MOLCT acquired MOLNT in January 2019. After the acquisition, MOLNT said that it sees this full integration as a natural step towards further developing our business to the benefit of our customers.
The two major mergers of South Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and DSME, and Chinese shipyards China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. and China State Shipbuilding Corp., are expected to control nearly half of the global shipbuilding market, forging a new reality for the global shipping industry.
Several mergers between Chinese shipbuilders are putting South Korean mid-size companies, which are already struggling, into risk. Because of these mergers, are medium-sized Korean shipyards worry that they could lose deals to construct oil tankers to Chinese companies, like it happened for bulk carriers.
