The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has delayed its decision on China’s Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group’s proposed investment in Fortescue Metals Group, Fortescue said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
FIRB will extend the review period by up to an extra 30 days from March 25.
Forstescue is selling Valin up to 17.55% of the company, or 260 million shares, for a total of $644.8 million.
Despite the delay, Forstescue believes that the deal with the Chinese steel maker will still go ahead in its present form.
“Fortescue remains confident that the structure of the share subscription agreement will enable Valin to obtain FIRB approval,” Fortescue company secretary Rod Campbell said.
The announcement comes days after FIRB said that it would extend its review period of the proposed deal between Rio Tinto and Chinalco by a further 90 days.