More doubts over Rover China deal

More confusion emerged over the proposed tie-up between British automaker MG Rover and China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) with a report in the Financial Times that the deal had been delayed due to concerns among Chinese regulators. According to the report, Chinese officials had been irritated by Rover's premature disclosure of its talks with state-owned SAIC. Recent reports in other British newspapers had suggested that the doubts over the deal were clearing with SAIC's appointment of a top London PR firm to handle the tie-up. The proposed US$1.8bn deal, seen by the British government as vital to Rover's future, is awaiting approval by the Shanghai government and the National Development and Reform Commission, which oversees foreign investment by Chinese firms. Neither Rover nor SAIC has made any public comment on the deal in several weeks.