South Korean defence and energy conglomerate Hanwha Group has received a green light from three Asian countries for its takeover of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
Local news agencies report that China, Singapore and Vietnam have given approval for the planned takeover of the state-backed shipyard.
This brings the number of countries that have consented to the merger to six. The other three are Turkey, Britain and Japan.
Hanwha is still awaiting approvals from South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) and the European Union.
Local news reported that FTC has not stated a timeline for its decision on the acquisition. The EU is due to deliver the result of its review on 18 April.
Last September, Hanwha signed a memorandum of understanding with DSME to acquire 49.3% of the shipyard’s shares through a paid-in capital increase from Korea Development Bank — the largest stakeholder of the Okpo yard.
On approval, DSME will raise KRW 2trn ($1.5bn) from Hanwha’s affiliates at a share price of KRW 19,150, which is only one-third of the price that it wanted to pay for the shipyard when it tried buying it in 2008.
Earlier this month, DSME said it expected the takeover to be completed in the first half of this year.
Shipbuilding sources said Hanwha’s management has already moved into DSME and is engaged in the yard’s operations.
HD Hyundai — formerly known as Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings — attempted to take over DSME last year but the move was blocked by the EU, whose competition authorities said the merged entity would dominate the market for LNG carrier newbuildings.
