On November 15, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) issued an announcement approving Hanwha Ocean SG Holdings Pte Ltd’s (“Hanwha Ocean SG”) proposed acquisition of Singapore’s Dyna-mac.
CCCS has assessed that the Proposed Transaction, if carried into effect, will not infringe the section 54 prohibition of the Competition Act 2004 (the “Act”), which prohibits mergers that may substantially lessen competition within any market in Singapore.
Hanwha Ocean SG is a special purpose vehicle established in Singapore for the acquisition of Dyna-mac. After acquiring Dyna-mac, Hanwha Ocean SG will engage in the same business as Hanwha Ocean in Korea, and both are subsidiaries of the Hanwha Group.
Just earlier this month, Dyna-mac’s founder and largest shareholder, Desmond Lim (30.7% stake), has agreed to accept Hanwha Group’s latest offer, which means that once the acquisition is completed, Hanwha Group’s stake will be more than 50% and it will gain control of Dyna-mac.
Founded in 1990, Dyna-Mac is listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange and specializes in the engineering design, procurement, construction, onshore pre-commissioning and trial operation of offshore modules and devices such as FPSO, FSO, FLNG and FSRU. Dyna-Mac has two shipyards in Singapore.
As of now, Hanwha Group holds a 25.4% stake in Dyna-Mac, of which 23.91% is from Keppel. In May this year, Hanwha Group acquired 23.91% of Dyna-Mac shares from Keppel for S$100 million.
Hanwha Group announced its plan to acquire the remaining shares in Dyna-Mac on Sept 11 at S$0.60 per share, which it later raised to S$0.67 per share.
For Hanwha Group, acquiring the operating rights of Dyna-mac means expanding the production base of its offshore engineering business. The acquisition conditions not only include obtaining more than 50% of Dyna-mac shares, but also must be approved by the Singapore Competition Authority. At present, these two major obstacles have been removed.