Lowe's withdraws buyout bid for Canada's Rona

[September 17, 2012]  MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Home-improvement company Lowe's is withdrawing its buyout bid for Rona Inc., saying that the Canadian home-improvement company's board does not seem to want to engage in talks.

Lowe's Cos. says it has repeatedly attempted to engage Rona's board so that it could conduct confirmatory due diligence and move forward with a friendly, negotiated deal.

In July, Lowe's offered 14.50 Canadian dollars ($14.92) per share for Rona, but the company rejected the offer. Based on Rona's 127.4 million outstanding shares, the value of the proposal is 1.85 billion Canadian dollars ($1.9 billion).

Rona said at the time that the bid was not in its own or shareholders' best interest.

Lowe's, which is based in Mooresville, N.C., said Monday that it still feels that the buyout makes sense and would create significant shareholder value.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.