A Chinese retailer has become the second foreign predator in a week to abandon plans to buy Currys.
Online giant JD.com said it would not make a formal bid for the High Street electrical retailer less than a month after expressing its interest.
Its decision to walk away came days after Currys fought off a separate bid from US hedge fund Elliott Advisors.
The New York-based activist investor, which owns book shop Waterstones, pulled out of the race after being rejected ‘multiple times’.
With both suitors ending their interest, Currys shares fell 3.9 per cent, or 2.3p, to 56.6p and are down almost 20 per cent since late last month when hopes of a bidding war were at their peak.
Walking away: With both suitors ending their interest, Currys shares fell 3.9 per cent, or 2.3p, to 56.6p and are down almost 20 per cent since late last month
But the failure of both JD.com and Elliott to get a deal over the line is the latest sign that British boards are taking a stand against foreign predators.
This week Direct Line revealed it had shrugged off a second offer from Belgian insurance group Ageas.
Elliott initially proposed an offer that valued Currys at £700m, or 62p a share, and raised it to £757m, 67p a share.
But Currys rebuffed these approaches, saying they ‘significantly undervalued the company and its future prospects’. JD.com said its decision was made after ‘careful consideration’.
JO Hambro Capital Management, a top ten shareholder in Currys, last week said the value of the bids showed the ‘absurdity’ of the UK stock market.
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