Kirin, China Mengniu give up on sale deal for Australia’s Lion-Dairy

Kirin Holdings and China Mengniu Dairy said on Tuesday they have given up on the sale of the Japanese company’s wholly owned Australian dairy firm Lion-Dairy and Drinks to the Chinese company, reported Reuters.

The announcement follows a media report last week that the Australian government could block the deal in what would mark its first veto since it announced a shake-up of the country’s foreign investment laws in July.

Kirin said in a statement that the two companies had agreed to terminate the A$600 million ($430 million) transfer deal, signed last November, because approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) was unlikely to come.