EU halts merger of South Korean shipbuilders Daewoo, Hyundai

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has blocked the merger between South Korean shipbuilders Hyundai and Daewoo. Officials said Thursday that a union between two of the world’s biggest players in the industry would have given the merged company a global stranglehold on the production of liquified natural gas carriers. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager says the merger would have led to “fewer suppliers and higher prices for large vessels transporting LNG.” European customers account for almost half the orders in the $45 billion market. She says LNG shipbuilding is so complicated that it was already difficult for new players to enter the market.