December 30, 2013 - 4:29 AM
FINDLAY, Ohio - Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is calling off its proposed $2.2 billion buyout by India's Apollo Tyres, a deal that would have created the world's seventh largest tire company.
Cooper said Monday that financing is no longer available and that it still believes Apollo breached the terms of the agreement.
Apollo representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The boards of both companies and Cooper shareholders approved the buyout, but negotiations with the union representing Cooper employees became a sticking point. An arbitrator ruled that Cooper and Apollo must create new agreements with the union, but a court rejected Cooper's claim that Apollo breached the terms of the deal.
Shares of Cooper, based in Findlay, Ohio, slumped 4 per cent before the opening bell.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013