The antitrust of Singapore expresses worry for the project of fusion notified from navalmeccanici groups South Korean HHI and DSME



The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has expressed worry about the agreement of fusion notified from the South Korean navalmeccanici groups Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME)(on 12 February 2019).

The authority antitrust of Singapore has explained to have carried to term the first phase of the examination of the proposal of acquisition by the Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), the holding ones that stops the entire capital of the HHI, a participation of majority in the DSME and previewed integration of the activities of the two shipbuilding groups. Remembering that both the navalmeccaniche societies operate to Singapore as foreign society recorded to Singapore, the CCCS has found that KSOE and DSME are overlapped in the field of the supply of commercial ships, included the oil tankers, the portacontainer, the ships for natural gas which liquified and the ships for gas of liquified oil. The CCCS has announced to have express worries under the profile of the competition to the KSOE with respect to the transaction proposed and this on the base of the information supplied from the same KSOE and of the comments on the operation proposed expressed from third parts.

In particular, it has specified the CCCS, "one is feared that the proposed operation will cancel the competition between two of the main suppliers of these commercial ships, to the detriment of the customers to Singapore. The feedbacks - it has specified the authority antitrust - have evidenced also worries on the fact that alternative suppliers can be concurrent sufficiently strong regarding the entity turning out from the fusion. Moreover one is feared that the barriers to the income and the increase, in particular in fields of more complex productions as for example the ships for liquified natural gas, can be important".

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore has remembered that now the parts can offer engagements in order to mitigate the worries about the potential problems under the profile of the competition that can rise as a result of the operation, otherwise the fusion proposal will be subordinate to a second phase of detailed review more.