Kirin Holdings Co. and Suntory Holdings Ltd. said Monday their tieup negotiations failed because they could not agree on the merger ratio.
"To survive global competition, our company thought the merger (with Suntory) would play a huge role on various fronts, so we made our best possible efforts," Kirin President Kazuyasu Kato told a news conference in Tokyo.
Kato said Kirin thought tying up with Suntory, which is not listed, would result in a merged, and listed, holding company with transparent, independent management.