Norwegian maritime industry group Wilhelmsen abandoned the acquisition of the US-based Drew Marine Technical Services, after the US District Court for the District of Columbia announced that it will grant the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) motion for an injunction to block the transaction, on 21 July.
The US Federal Trade Commission revealed plans to challenge the acquisition in February, noting that the $400 million proposed deal would reduce competition in the market for marine water treatment chemicals, Reuters reported at that time.
Namely, the transaction would result in Wilhelmsen owning 60% of the market for marine water treatment chemicals, while its closest competitor would have 5%, according to US FTC.
We disagree with the views of the US competition authorities. This would have been an important strategic investment for our group, which we believe would have meant better services and better prices for our customer. We are therefore disappointed that we will not be able to bring the deal to a close,
…said in response Thomas Wilhelmsen, group CEO in Wilhelmsen.
Wilhelmsen and Drew have agreed on a termination fee of USD 20 million. The fee will now be invoked and have a negative non-recurring effect on Wilhelmsen’s second quarter accounts, to be released on 9 August 2018.
