Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilder that is a major builder of cruise ships, has raised concerns over rumoured EU antitrust investigation into its acquisition of a 50% stake in the French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique, unveiled earlier this year.

“With reference to the rumours published by several media on the alleged decision by the EU antitrust authorities to commence a further in-depth analysis of the Fincantieri/Chantiers de l’Atlantique transaction, Fincantieri strongly disapproves of such rumours, which have also negatively affected its share price today,” Fincantieri said in a statement.

According to the agreement between Fincantieri and the French government, will acquire a 50% stake in Chantiers de l’Atlantique, which has a large shipyard in St Nazaire, from the French state, which also agreed to lend a 1% stake to Fincantieri to allow it to take effective control on condition the company makes commitments on jobs, governance and intellectual property, Reuters reports.

"Fincantieri expresses its firm disapproval of such decision, if confirmed, particularly in case it were based on the alleged reduction of the European players from three to two, as previously reported. Following the transaction, there would still be three cruise shipbuilders in Europe, as opposed to the current four," the Italian shipbuilder said.

The four cruise shipbuilders Fincantieri refers to are itself, Chantiers de l Atlantique in France, Meyer Werft in Germany and Meyer Turku Shipyard in Finland. The two Meyer yards are separate legal entities, but they are controlled by the same interests.