Hanwha Group has taken control of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), acquiring a 49.3% stake in the company.
The deal worth around $1.5 billion was announced on 16 December and followed a September signing of a conditional MoU for Hanwha to take a controlling stake in the shipbuilder.
DSME has contracts worth $28.8 billion on its order books over the next four years, much of them relating to vessels for the Republic of Korea Navy.
Hanwha Group is set to expand into naval shipbuilding
DSME produces submarines, warships, and auxiliaries for military customers.
The Hanwha takeover will see the Korea Development Bank’s stake in DSME reduced to 28.2%. The bank had been DSME’s main creditor and largest shareholder.
Shares are being acquired by six subsidiaries of Hanwha, with Hanwha Aerospace stumping almost half of the purchase price.