Austal leaves door ajar in takeover bid from Hanwha Ocean

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Despite an initial rejection from Austal, South Korean firm Hanwha Ocean’s bid to buy out the Australian shipbuilder has some analysts pondering the benefits of such deal.

Jennifer Parker, a naval analyst at the National Security College within the Australian National University, told Defense News: “If you think about what Australia is trying to achieve with its continuous shipbuilding , think about the fact that a lack of Australian ownership is not a barrier for being a sovereign defense industrial base, then I think there’s a lot of opportunity.”

Yet one obstacle to a takeover is regulatory approval from authorities like Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). In an April 2 press release, Austal said it was “not satisfied that these mandatory approvals would be secured.”

Hanwha Executive Vice President David Kim responded: “There is no foundation of the claim that the FIRB would reject Hanwha’s acquisition of the company.” The South Korean company has previously obtained the board’s approval for investments in Australian armored vehicles.

Domestic opportunities certainly abound. Australia’s recent surface combatant fleet review recommended three general-purpose frigates be built overseas and eight in Western Australia. Korea’s FFX-III frigate, which Hanwha Ocean is helping build, is one of four shortlisted designs.

Hanwha’s acquisition of Austal would increase the chances of swaying the competition in favor of that ship design, Parker noted.

Furthermore, announced last November, Austal has a pilot agreement with Australia’s Department of Defence to act as strategic partner in Western Australia. Already, Austal has landing craft and patrol boats in its order book.

Parker highlighted the Korean conglomerate’s desire for a Five Eyes foothold, a reference to the intelligence-sharing club of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States. “I think that for Hanwha, who wants to get into the Five Eyes market, it sees that the industrial capacity of the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada to build the ships they want is just not there.”

The prize of Austal USA, a supplier of U.S. Navy vessels , presumably enters Hanwha’s calculus, even if this subsidiary has relative autonomy from Austal Australia.

American shipbuilders might be reluctant about a Korean competitor appearing, but Parker wondered whether the U.S. should not be leaning more on South Korea for assistance in producing ships. “We know the U.S. industrial base is struggling to produce ships and submarines … so there’s opportunity there,” she argued.

Parker highlighted different ideas over what “sovereign” actually means when it comes to serving the Australian market. According to the government’s “Defence Industry Development Strategy,” released in February, Australian ownership is not critical to sovereignty. Apart from the public optics of a 36-year-old Australian company being sold, Parker said, “I can’t right now see any significant disadvantage to it.”

Additionally, it could signal to China that Australia is serious about relations with regional partners.

Leaving the door ajar, Austal said it “is open to further engagement if Hanwha is able to provide certainty on whether a transaction would be approved.”

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新西兰基督城——尽管最初遭到澳大利亚造船企业澳斯达的拒绝，但韩国韩华海洋公司收购这家澳大利亚造船企业的提议，让一些分析师开始思考这笔交易的好处。

澳大利亚国立大学国家安全学院的海军分析师詹妮弗·帕克告诉《防务新闻》：“如果你想想澳大利亚通过持续造船所要实现的目标，想想澳大利亚缺乏所有权并不会成为主权国防工业基地的障碍，那么我认为这里有很多机会。”

然而，收购的一大障碍是获得澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会（FIRB）等监管机构的批准。Austal在4月2日的新闻稿中表示，“并不确信这些强制性批准能够获得”。

韩华集团执行副总裁金大卫回应道：“所谓外国投资审查委员会（FIRB）会否决韩华收购该公司的说法毫无根据。”这家韩国公司此前曾获得该委员会批准，投资澳大利亚装甲车辆业务。

国内机遇确实很多。澳大利亚近期对水面作战舰艇舰队的评估建议，三艘通用护卫舰应在海外建造，八艘应在西澳大利亚建造。韩国的FFX-III型护卫舰（韩华海洋公司正在协助建造）是入围的四款设计方案之一。

帕克指出，韩华收购奥斯塔将增加其在竞争中赢得优势，从而采用该船舶设计的可能性。

此外，去年11月宣布，奥斯塔公司与澳大利亚国防部签署了一项试点协议，将在西澳大利亚州担任战略合作伙伴。目前，奥斯塔公司已有登陆艇和巡逻艇的订单。

帕克强调了这家韩国企业集团渴望在“五眼联盟”中站稳脚跟的愿望，这里指的是由新西兰、澳大利亚、加拿大、英国和美国组成的情报共享组织。“我认为，对于想要进入‘五眼联盟’市场的韩华集团来说，它意识到美国、澳大利亚、新西兰和加拿大的工业能力不足以建造他们想要的舰船。”

即使 Austal USA 这家美国海军舰艇供应商相对独立于 Austal Australia，但收购 Austal USA 的利益想必也进入了韩华的考量范围。

美国造船商或许不愿看到韩国竞争对手出现，但帕克质疑美国是否应该更多地依赖韩国在船舶制造方面的援助。“我们知道美国工业基础在船舶和潜艇制造方面举步维艰……所以这其中蕴藏着机会，”她认为。

帕克强调了在服务澳大利亚市场时，“主权”的真正含义存在不同的理解。根据政府二月份发布的《国防工业发展战略》，澳大利亚所有权并非主权的必要条件。帕克表示，除了出售一家拥有36年历史的澳大利亚公司在公众眼中可能引发的争议之外​​，“我目前看不出这有什么明显的弊端。”

此外，这也可以向中国表明，澳大利亚认真对待与地区伙伴的关系。

澳斯达表示，如果韩华能够明确表示交易是否会被批准，澳斯达“愿意进一步接触”。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。