European Union clears Korean bid for shipbuilder Aker

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - European Union regulators on Monday cleared South Korea's STX Corp. to buy a 39 percent stake in Europe's largest shipbuilder, Aker Yards ASA.

The EU dismissed initial worries that the deal might cause antitrust problems for cruise ships and a complaint that South Korean government subsidies for the new company might allow it to unfairly damage rivals by undercutting prices and monopolizing the market.

South Korean industrial group STX said in October it would pay 4.3 billion Norwegian kroner ($796 million) for 39.2 percent of Norway-based Aker. The deal prompted trade union concerns that it would result in a loss of European jobs to Asia.

The European Commission, which has the power to block major combinations, launched an investigation into the deal in December, saying it was more concerned that the bid would prevent STX from entering the market as a separate, fourth global builder of cruise ships.

It concluded Monday that a closer look at the deal had "dispelled the initial doubts," because STX was far from becoming a real rival in the cruise ship market.

It also said it found no evidence that STX was likely to receive government subsidies in the future that would allow it to control the shipbuilding market. The buyer power of a few large customers would make it very hard for STX to monopolize either cruise ships or ferries, it said.

STX is a major shipbuilder that has concentrated on building cargo ships while Aker focused on cruise ships, ferries and merchant vessels.

Aker is the world's No. 3 producer of cruise ships after Italy's Fincantieri and Germany's Meyer Werft. It has about 20,000 employees and 18 shipyards in Norway, Finland, Germany, France, Romania, Ukraine, Brazil and Vietnam.

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On the Net:

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