AUSTRALIA – Merger talks between dairy co-operatives Bonlac and Murray Goulburn have fallen out of bed.

Talks were halted by Murray Goulburn, which did not think the merger would bring sufficient benefits to justify the risk of the merger.

In a statement, Bonlac said that it was disappointed that talks had ceased, as it believed that a merger could have been “in the interests of supplier shareholders of both co-operatives and the Australian dairy industry” and would have brought “significant savings”.