Industry giants BAE Systems and EADS have abandoned a proposed merger worth £25 billion.

In a joint statement the two businesses said that stakeholder concerns including the involvement of the UK, France and German governments, had meant that a agreeable position could not be reached before the 5pm deadline.

The announcement stated that: "It has become clear that the interests of the parties' government stakeholders cannot be adequately reconciled with each other or with the objectives that BAE Systems and EADS established for the merger".