South Korea: Hanwha Group Inks Deal to Take Over Daewoo Shipbuilding

South Korea’s Hanwha Group has signed an agreement to take over Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Daewoo Shipbuilding said in a regulatory filing on Friday. 

The deal comes after the two parties signed a tentative agreement in September in which affiliates of Hanwha Group, including Hanwha Aerospace Co Ltd., said they would invest 2 trillion won ($1.53 billion) in return for a 49.3% stake and management rights in Daewoo shipbuilding. 

Hanwha Group, South Korea’s seventh-largest conglomerate with 80 trillion won in assets, spans energy, defense, and financial industries. 

The takeover deal still needs to be approved by foreign competition regulators, including in the European Union, Japan, China, and Singapore, according to the regulatory filing. 

Earlier this year, rival Hyundai Heavy Industries’ attempt to take over Daewoo was vetoed by the EU over concerns the deal, which would have created the world’s largest shipbuilder, would hurt competition. 

($1 = 1,309.6900 won)

(Reuters – Reporting by Hyunsu Yim / Editing by Mark Potter)