Hyundai, the world’s biggest shipbuilding group, has announced a share swap deal worth 2.1 trillion won (US$1.98 billion) to take over second-ranked Daewoo and create a global heavyweight.
State-funded Korea Development Bank (KDB) owns 55.7% of Daewoo, and has said it intends to sell the stake and consolidate the country’s three biggest shipbuilders—which includes Samsung Heavy Industries—into two.
The combination of two of the giant shipbuilders would ease competition and excess capacity, which have depressed ship prices, KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull said at a news conference.
The deal will “raise the fundamental competitiveness of Daewoo, at a time when the threat from latecomers in China and Singapore is growing,” Lee said on Thursday, January 31.
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