Coca-Cola may abandon its proposed $2.4bn takeover of China’s leading juice company after antitrust regulators signalled it would have to relinquish the China Huiyuan Juice brand after the acquisition, people familiar with the matter said.

The planned deal, the largest ever foreign takeover of a Chinese company, is the first major test of the country’s revamped anti-monopoly regime that was given extra teeth last August. Its failure would be a blow to multi-national companies seeking to make acquisitions in China.