Australian grain marketer ABB Grain Ltd. said on March 03 that merger talks with AusBulk Ltd. have ceased after the two failed to reach an agreement over company valuations, according to Dow Jones. A further unresolved issue was the position of AusBulk's major shareholder, United Grower Holdings, in the post-merger entity.

ABB and AusBulk, a grain logistics and malting concern, said last month that they were in preliminary merger talks.
ABB Chairman Trevor Day said in a statement on March 03 that the directors remain strongly focused on strengthening ABB's business base while exploring considerable growth opportunities that exist within Australia and offshore.

03 March, 2004