HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering's shipbuilding subsidiaries, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo, will merge. The merger will be conducted through a merger in which HD Hyundai Heavy Industries absorbs HD Hyundai Mipo, with the merger ratio set at 1 to 0.4059146.
On the 27th, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and HD Hyundai Mipo reported that the merger agenda was approved at their respective boards. HD Hyundai plans to launch the integrated HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in December after a shareholders' meeting and corporate merger review.
HD Hyundai stated that it plans to achieve economies of scale and proactively develop cutting-edge technology through the merger to secure competitiveness. Recently, key competitor countries, China and Japan, have also merged their top two shipbuilding companies to increase their size.
HD Hyundai expects that the competitiveness in the defense sector will increase when the two companies merge. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries holds the most shipbuilding records in the country. HD Hyundai Mipo possesses dry docks and facilities suitable for shipbuilding.
HD Hyundai has plans to achieve annual sales of 10 trillion won by 2035. According to the British military magazine Janes, the projected scale for new global ships over the next decade is approximately 2,100 vessels, totaling around $360 billion.
Once the merger is completed, HD Hyundai plans to establish an investment corporation that will jointly manage overseas shipbuilding operations of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. This corporation is set to be established in Singapore in December this year and will oversee overseas production bases such as HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Philippines, and HD Hyundai Vina (tentative name) as well as manage overseas operations.
A representative from HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering noted, 'This business restructuring is the result of strategic considerations aimed at a "broader market" and "stronger shipbuilding."' They added, 'Through the establishment of the integrated corporation, we will achieve market expansion and securing ultra-gap technology to lead the future shipbuilding market.'