Sinopec and ENN Energy have dropped their hostile bid for China Gas Holdings, officially ending a takeover battle that lasted nearly a year and highlighted the intense competition over China’s fast-growing natural gas sector.

In a statement to the Hong Kong Exchange on Monday night, the bidding consortium said it would not proceed with the bid and had not received regulatory clearance for the attempted takeover, which was first announced in December last year. Outstanding regulatory approvals included the green light from China’s anti-monopoly regulator and from the National Development and Reform Commission, according to a September 6 statement.

In an unexpected twist, China Gas also announced on Monday that it was entering into a strategic partnership with the formerly hostile Sinopec, which would see the two companies jointly develop LNG fuelling stations, build gas pipelines and co-operate on LPG distribution, among other things.