Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11028 – THE HANWHA GROUP / DAEWOO SHIPBUILDING MARINE ENGINEERING) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2023/C 98/05
Date: 2023-03-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: South Korea, aerospace industry, building industry, chemical product, economic concentration, financial services, mechatronics, merger control, renewable energy, shipbuilding, solar energy








C_2023098EN.01003401.xml










16.3.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 98/34






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11028 – THE HANWHA GROUP / DAEWOO SHIPBUILDING MARINE ENGINEERING)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2023/C 98/05)

1.   
On 9 March 2023, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


The Hanwha Group, (‘the Hanwha Group’, South Korea), ultimately controlled by the Seung Youn Kim family,










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Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering Co., Ltd (‘DSME’, South Korea), controlled by its majority shareholder, the Korea Development Bank.




The Hanwha Group will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of DSME.
The concentration is accomplished by way of a purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


The Hanwha Group, comprising (i) Hanwha Corporation and (ii) Hanwha Energy as well as their respective affiliates (2) is based in South Korea. The Hanwha Group is controlled by the Seung Youn Kim family (pursuant to the South Korean law applying to family-run chaebol groups). The Hanwha Group is active in aerospace and mechatronics; chemicals products and materials; solar, renewable energy and energy solutions; financial services; construction, leisure and lifestyle.










—


DSME is a South Korean shipbuilding and ocean infrastructure company. DSME manufactures a wide range of commercial vessels and supplies offshore facilities construction related products. In addition, DSME also designs and builds naval and specialty ships such as submarines and surface ships for military use.






3.   
On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.
Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (3) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


4.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:
M.11028 – THE HANWHA GROUP / DAEWOO SHIPBUILDING MARINE ENGINEERING
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  (i) Hanwha Corporation, controlled by the SYK Family, controls a number of companies including the acquiring entities: Hanwha Aerospace Co. Ltd. And Hanwha Systems Co. Ltd., and (ii) Hanwha Energy, wholly-owned by the SYK Family, controls a number of companies including the acquiring entities: Hanwha Convergence Co. Ltd., Hanwha Impact Partners Inc., Hanwha Energy Corporation Singapore Pte. Ltd.

(3)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.