South Korea’s SM Group looks to have pulled out of a deal to buy compatriot shipbuilder SPP Shipbuilding.

It had signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) earlier this year to take over the yard for $300m, TradeWinds had previously reported.

But SM, which owns Korea Line Corp, could not agree a new price, the Yonhap news agency said.

"We had estimated that additional KRW 140bn ($118m) would be needed for SPP Shipbuilding based on the result of due diligence.