SIMIC

The veto of the tie-up comes two years after Brussels stopped India¡¯s Tata Steel and Germany¡¯s Thyssenkrupp from merging, and three years after it blocked the merger of the train businesses of Siemens and Alstom, angering France and Germany.

After more than two years of procedure, an unusually long time for this kind of case, the EU commission will announce "in the next few days" its veto to the operation, said a source, confirming a report in London's Financial Times.

Of particular concern is the deal¡¯s fallout on the construction of ships transporting liquefied natural gas, especially at a time when high energy prices are an acute concern in Europe.

The takeover of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering by rival Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings would create a group controlling nearly two-thirds of the global cargo shipbuilding, the source said.

But the price of cargo shipping more generally has exploded in recent months due to the shock to the global chain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.