A Philippines watchdog has voided another takeover completed by Dennis Uy's Chelsea Logistics Corp (CLC).
CLC bought Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, and its fleet of 16 ships including container vessels, ro-paxes and a general cargoship, in 2016.
But the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has invalidated the deal after it said CLC failed to notify it. CLC was also fined PHP 22.8m ($427,000).
Any deal worth more than PHP 1bn has to be reported for scrutiny.
But CLC contends that this figure is not reached if Trans-Asia's debts were taken into account.
And it added that the PCC also recently raised the threshold to PHP 2bn from PHP 1bn.
CLC was hit by a similar ruling in February, when its takeover of ro-pax operator 2Go was voided for non-notification.
This was later allowed to go ahead conditionally, but it seems the Trans-Asia blocking is linked to the 2Go transaction being cleared.
Philippines media cited the PCC as saying its investigation initially found CLC having control of both 2Go’s and Trans-Asia’s passenger and cargo shipping would lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” in the Visayas and Mindanao market.
CLC called the decision "unduly harsh."
Its president and CEO Chryss Alfonsus Damuy told the Inquirer daily that the company is currently considering its options with its legal team.
“We are weighing between filing a motion for reconsideration or going to court,” he said.
The PCC said CLC acquired shares in holding company KGLI-NM to gain a 52.98% stake in 2Go.
