Doosan Heavy Industries Co signed a 1.89 trln won (USD1.8 billion) contract to acquire a 51 per cent controlling stake in Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery Co last week.

The deal will be finalised after a five-week due diligence inspection of Daewoo's head office and factories by an inspection team, which includes Doosan Heavy vice president Lee Sung-hee.

The team will confirm the size of Daewoo's assets and assess its corporate values to check for hidden debts or losses.

Meanwhile, the Korean Fair Trade Commission will examine whether the planned purchase would violate a law banning conglomerates from investing more than 25 per cent of their assets in other firms.