Sembcorp Marine and Keppel O&M likely to merge
Merger considered inevitable and well received by analysts.
In an press release Thursday, Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) and Sembcorp Marine announced they are in merger talks.
The proposed merger comes as no surprise to many in the business, as the combining of the two ship repair and offshore engineering giants had been seen as inevitable for many years.
Analysts in Singapore have long endorsed the merger as it will bring the economies of scale and they say one big player will be better able to compete for large contracts on the world stage.
“Consolidation is needed simply because of competition and the need for bigger working capital to take on new and bigger projects,” Joel Ng at KGI Securities told Reuters.
