Rona

Despite the low loonie and the hype around the foreign takeovers of Rexall and Rona, Canadian companies are cross-border shopping in a big way, too

Rona’s shares drop over 10 per cent

U.S. home-improvement giant Lowe’s is no longer seeking to buy Canada’s Rona Inc. The U.S. retailer had planned to acquire the Quebec-based company for $1.8 billion.

As Quebec prepares to block a takeover of Rona, shareholders wonder whose side the company is on

Rona executives say they’re not interested in a $1.76 billion takeover offer from rival home improvement chain Lowe’s, but shareholders of the Quebec-based company are betting it might happen anyway. Share’s of Rona are up nearly 20 per cent in early trading Tuesday morning at $14.10. Rona said before markets opened that it had received an informal offer from Lowe’s of $14.50 on July 8, but that its board had decided Rona “should remain focused on executing its business plan with a view to capturing significant opportunities that it sees for its business.”

The morning after the night before, Michael Ignatieff went for a stroll down the adhesives aisle of a Rona in suburban Gatineau. A Liberal candidate stood on each side of him. A semi-circle of photographers and cameramen shuffled backwards in front of him as he went.