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China says companies looking to invest overseas will not face a backlash from foreign countries after Beijing rejected the bid from Coca-Cola.
The world’s largest soft drinks maker Coca-Cola offered to buy china’s top juice maker, HuiYuan. The rejection of Coke’s bid comes at a time when Chinese companies are ramping up their foreign acquisition plans, especially in the commodities sector. China’s Commerce Ministry rejected the Coke-HuiYuan deal under a new anti-monopoly law, the ruling on grounds that the combined concentration of the two companies will have hurt the competition in the juice business.
At the same time, China’s biggest overseas investment ever, state-owned Chinalco’s planned 20 billion dollar tie-up with miner Rio Tinto is under review by the Australian government. Political opposition to the deal has been mounting in Australia, with the country’s Foreign Investment Review Board set to announce its conclusions on June 15th.
China said lengthy review was to be expected, asking rhetorically— for such a big M&A deal, does a delay of 90 days mean anything important?
Kitty Bu reporting for Reuters, in Beijing
Notes:
Tie-up: A tie-up between two organizations is a business connection that has been arranged between them.
Rhetorically: Asking a question with the intention to make a statement rather than to get an answer. （反问）