US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber said yesterday it was terminating a proposed $2.5 billion sale to Apollo Tyres, marking the end of an agreement plagued by obstacles.

Cooper did not say if Apollo would pay a $112.5m break-up fee, but said the Indian tyre maker had breached a merger agreement between the companies and said it would pursue legal steps to protect the company and its shareholders.

That would continue a legal stand-off between two sides, whose relationship descended into acrimony soon after Apollo in June agreed to buy Cooper for $35 a share. Yet the high debt levels required to buy Cooper spooked Apollo investors and the Indian group sought a price cut of as much as $9 a share, citing Cooper’s US labour trouble and disruptions at a Chinese joint venture. – (Reuters)