Hyundai Heavy jumps over first hurdle in DSME merger

South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has received unconditional approval for the merger with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) from the competition authority of Kazakhstan.

Hyundai said on Tuesday that this was the first approval granted by international competition authorities for this transaction.

The company added that the Kazakh competition authority’s approval of HHI’s proposed merger with DSME followed comprehensive assessments and reviews, including the definition of relevant markets and the evaluation of potential threats to competition.

HHI’s proposed merger with DSME is also under review for approval from Korea’s Fair Trade Commission and other international competition authorities including China, Japan, the EU, and Singapore.

“The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approval from relevant competition authorities. We are making the utmost efforts to win the approval of the transaction in line with their assessment schedules and procedures.

“We are maintaining a constructive dialogue with the EU competition authority as part of the ‘pre-notification period.’ We currently anticipate notification of the transaction to the European Commission in the coming weeks,” an official of HHI Group said.

It is worth reminding that Hyundai Heavy signed a formal deal with the Korea Development Bank to complete the purchase of its compatriot Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering back in March 2019.

The deal, valued at around 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion), will see the state-owned KDB that has a 55.7 percent stake in DSME, hand over 59,738,211 shares priced at 34,922 South Korean won to HHI.