It has been reported that the Vietnamese government has revoked the licence for the proposed JV steel mill project between The Lion Group and Vietnam's state owned shipping company Vinashin in Ninh Thuan, Vietnam on the basis that there has not been any activity undertaken since the groundbreaking ceremony in November 2008.

The Lion Group clarified on March 11th 2011 that the lack of progress is due to the financial and management issues affecting Vinashin which has not been able to respond on the continuity of the project.

In addition, the group has certain investment criteria and conditions including adequate import tariff protection for the project, that need to be in place especially for such heavy investments involving billions of dollars. As these requirements have not been met, the group has therefore decided not to proceed with the project.