A PYMNTS Company

EU’s Vestager Concerned About Fincantieri’s French Deal

 |  June 9, 2020

Gauging the market impact of Italian shipyard Fincantieri’s bid for France’s Chantiers de l’Atlantique is proving difficult and is likely to take some time, the European Union’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager stated.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    Italy sees the deal by Europe’s largest shipyard as an opportunity to create a European industrial champion in the shipbuilding industry to better compete with rivals from Asia and other regions. 

    EU antitrust enforcers, however, worry the deal between two global leaders in an already concentrated and capacity-constrained market could push up prices for cruise ships.

    The European Commission on March 13 suspended its investigation into the deal while waiting for the companies to provide data it had requested. 

    Vestager said one reason for halting the probe was related to the COVID-19 crisis, while the other was because competition enforcers were still having “some difficulty in figuring out what will be the fallout, what will be the market results after that case”. 

    “So I think it will still take quite some time before that case will have a ticking clock again,” she said.

    Full Content: Reuters

    Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.