[Hot Stock] Hanwha Surges 7% on News of Renewed Bid to Acquire Australia's Oztal

Hanwha is showing strong performance in the early trading session. The news that Hanwha is re-pursuing the acquisition of Austal, an Australian military ship manufacturer and supplier to the U.S., is believed to have driven the stock price up.

As of 9:02 AM on the 18th, Hanwha is trading at 50,300 KRW, up 7.25% (3,400 KRW) from the previous day. This marks the third consecutive day of gains.

The strong stock performance today appears to be due to the news of the acquisition push for the Australian shipbuilder Austal. Previously, Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Aerospace announced that they invested 202.7 billion KRW and 64.2 billion KRW respectively into their local Australian subsidiary 'HAA No.1 PTY LTD' through a rights offering. Hanwha also revealed today that it directly purchased a 9.9% stake in Austal through over-the-counter trading on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Experts view Hanwha Group's attempt to acquire Austal as a strategic move for its U.S. naval ship business. Byun Yong-jin, a researcher at iM Securities, explained, "Hanwha Group's acquisition of Austal shares is an active expression of the group's overall commitment to the U.S.-origin special ship business," adding, "With this rights offering, Hanwha Group is effectively investing in the U.S. through Austal."

Previously, Hanwha Ocean proposed to acquire Austal for 1.02 billion Australian dollars (approximately 930 billion KRW) in April last year, but the deal fell through after Austal's management rejected the offer. Austal is a company that produces naval vessels, high-speed ferries, offshore wind power plants, and ships for oil and gas platforms, and it operates a shipyard in Alabama, U.S., where it conducts U.S. Navy-related projects.