The world’s biggest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings is talking about concessions with EU antitrust regulators to allay concerns regarding its $1.8 billion bid for rival Daewoo, people knowledgeable with the matter said.
The deal, in part a reply to overcapacity in the sector, would reinforce the company’s leading position with a 21% market share, and comes as competitors in China and Singapore make inroads.
The European Commission, which started a full-scale investigation into the deal last December on concerns it could inflate costs and decrease competition in cargo shipbuilding, has not commented on the report.
Similarly, Hyundai and Daewoo have not commented either.
Hyundai may face less inconvenient concessions after the EU competition enforcer dropped its concerns about the impact of the deal on the markets for large container ships, oil tankers, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers.
It is now concentrating only on liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, one of the people said, which are used for transporting LNG between Europe and the Middle East, and North Africa.
EU regulators typically favor asset sales or the transfer of technologies or contracts to competitors to address competition concerns.
The Commission temporarily stopped its investigation on July 13, the third time it has done so. The previous two delays were because of the coronavirus crisis and also to it waiting for the companies to give information.
Much of the EU’s internal and external freight trade goes by sea, with European shipping firms major consumers of Hyundai and Daewoo.
