Wilhelmsen abandons Drew Marine acquisition

Decision comes after U.S. District Court grants Federal Trade Commission’s motion for an injunction to block deal.    Norway’s Wilhelmsen has abandoned a planned acquisition of Drew Marine, a U.S. company that makes marine water treatment chemicals and services for ships.
    The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia announced Saturday that it would grant the Federal Trade Commission’s motion for an injunction to block Wilhelmsen’s acquisition of Drew Marine Technical Services.
   The FTC had said Wilhelmsen Maritime Services’ proposed $400 million acquisition of Drew Marine Group “would violate the antitrust laws by significantly reducing competition in an important market for marine water treatment chemicals and services used by global fleets.”
   If consummated, FTC said the merger “would result in a company controlling at least 60 percent of the global marine water treatment chemical and service market, leaving only inferior alternatives” for shipping companies.
   Thomas Wilhelmsen, group CEO of Wilhelmsen, said, “We disagree with the views of the U.S. competition authorities. This would have been an important strategic investment for our group, which we believe would have meant better services and better prices for our customer. We are therefore disappointed that we will not be able to bring the deal to a close,” 
   Wilhelmsen said it and Drew have agreed on a termination fee of $20 million, which it said will have a negative non-recurring effect on Wilhelmsen’s second quarter accounts.