Ssangyong acquisition falls through

China Blue Star Group announced that it has given up its bid to acquire South Korean carmaker Ssangyong Motors. An official at Blue Star, a state-owned chemical group, said the deal fell through over a price deadlock between the two sides. The deal was to have been the first acquisition of a foreign carmaker by a Chinese company. Analysts said the deal was hampered by Blue Star's inability to produce documentation of government support for the acquisition combined with Beijing's preference for Shanghai Auto Industry Corp to win the Ssangyong bid.