In a press release issued this morning, Lowe’s, the world’s second-largest home improvement retailer, announced  that it has formally withdrawn its non-binding proposal dated July 8, 2012 to the board of directors of RONA to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of RONA for C$14.50 in cash per share.

In the statement, Lowe’s explains that it “has repeatedly attempted to engage the Board of Directors of RONA with respect to its proposal in order to conduct confirmatory due diligence and move forward with a friendly, negotiated transaction.’

It also states that “Lowe’s continues to believe that a combination of Lowe’s and RONA makes business sense and would create significant value for all stakeholders. It is unfortunate that the RONA Board of Directors did not recognize the important economic and commercial benefits of this proposal for its stakeholders and for Canada.  Lowe’s remains committed to the Canadian market and will continue delivering outstanding home improvement products and services to its Canadian customers.”