ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s testing and inspection group SGS said on Monday it had ended talks over a potential $30 billion merger with French rival Bureau Veritas.
“SGS and Bureau Veritas have been exploring a potential combination. The discussions have not resulted in an agreement and have ended,” SGS said in a brief statement.
A spokesperson for SGS said the company had nothing to add at present about the reasons for its decision.
SGS said earlier this month it was in talks to combine with Bureau Veritas in what could have been an all-stock transaction, according to a person familiar with the matter.
That would have meant that SGS shares would trade in Paris, a fact which could have led to complications due to tit-for-tat measures imposed years ago during a Swiss-EU stock market row.
Such listings of Swiss shares in the EU are forbidden by protective measures Switzerland issued in 2019 when the bloc withdrew its recognition of equivalence for the Swiss exchange amid a dispute over bilateral trade talks at the time.
Without commenting specifically on the SGS-Bureau Veritas deal, Swiss financial authorities acknowledged that the situation presented potential problems for the tie-up.
It is unclear what, if any, influence the stock market issue had in bringing an end to the talks.
(Reporting by Paolo Laudani and Dave Graham; Editing by Friederike Heine)
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