A two-way competition is poised to heat up between Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Hanwha Group for the acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., with a final winner likely to be selected next week, watchers said Friday State-run Korea Development Bank, which is arranging the sale of a controlling stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding, said on Thursday it would disqualify POSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, as a potential buyer for Daewoo Shipbuilding.
The decision came after POSCO’s consortium partner, GS Group, suddenly pulled out of the deal over a price disagreement with POSCO. The two had agreed to make a joint bid for a controlling stake in the world’s third-largest shipbuilder .