BHP, Rio Scrap Plans to Form World's Biggest Iron Ore Exporter
Regulators in Asia and Europe wanted the companies to implement changes, including asset sales, that the companies could not accept, Bloomberg News said. The regulators were worried that the deal would limit competition.
"The full value of the synergies on offer from a 50-50 joint venture was a prize well worth pursuing," Tom Albanese, CEO of Rio, said today. "The regulators did not agree with us."
Antitrust regulators in Germany and Japan said last week they were opposed to the deal. There was also the possibility that the European Commission would raise formal objections.