The US investment group Elliott has ended its bid to buy Currys after previous offers were rejected by the electrical goods retailer.
Elliott, which owns Waterstones, told the markets on Monday that it had made multiple attempts to engage with the Currys board but all had been rebuffed.
It said it did not have enough information to make an improved offer and therefore would not be pursuing a third bid.
The confirmation comes after Elliott’s £742m bid, at 67p a share, was rejected last month, with the Currys board saying it “significantly undervalued the company and its future prospects”.
This was the second offer by Elliott unanimously rejected by the board after an earlier £700m bid, at 62p a share, was refused.
Elliott is one of two companies to have publicly stated an interest in Currys after the Chinese e-commerce company JD.com announced it was considering making an offer. The move sent the retailer’s shares soaring by a third, up to 64p, amid hopes it could result in a bidding war with Elliott.
JD.com said at the time that it was in the early stages of valuing a deal and had not made any statements since.
Shares in Currys were down 10% on Monday morning to 58p after Elliott said it was walking away, making the retailer the top faller on the FTSE 250.
Currys employs more than 15,000 people in the UK and has about 300 stores. It became the umbrella name after Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse merged in 2014.
However, the retailer has struggled in the past two years with high inflation hitting demand across all of its markets. In July, it cancelled its dividend and cut spending in its Scandinavian operations.
Elliott is known as an activist shareholder that has pushed for change at the drugmaker GSK and the housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, and has amassed high-profile investments such as the Italian football club AC Milan, which it later sold.
Under UK takeover rules Elliott will now not be able to make a revised offer for Currys for at least six months.
Analysts at the UK broker Peel Hunt have previously said they believed it would take an offer of more than 80p a share for the company’s board to engage.
