"In connection with the acquisition of Austal, a company shipbuilding and defence company, the our company has decided to suspend discussions with the management and the board of directors of Austal regarding this agreement as of September 25, 2024 and informed it the other side". This was announced on Wednesday with a communication to the Australian Stock Exchange ASX the shipbuilding group South Korean Hanwha Ocean Co. which at the beginning of last spring had announced an offer worth about 900 billion won to acquire Austal ( of 2 April 2024).

Hanwha's offer had been coldly received by the management of Austal who had in particular expressed Concerns about the possibility that the authorities The Australian and American companies would have given the go-ahead for takeover.

Meanwhile, in recent days Austal had announced that the its US subsidiary Austal USA had been awarded contracts valued at $450 million and $152 million, respectively General Dynamics Electric Boat and the U.S. Navy, orders that will allow the construction site to expand its production capacity naval base in Mobile, Alabama, and continue the construction of submarines of the US Navy. The works for the construction of a new production facility They will begin this fall and will be completed in 2026.