MOORESVILLE, NC - Lowe's bid of $1.75 billion to take over a Canadian home improvement chain, was rejected last night by the company, RONA. Lowe's revealed yesterday that on July 8 it had made the unsolicited bid, when Rona issued a statement last night rejecting it.
Under the terms of the offer, RONA would remain a Quebec-based company with its Canadian head office in Boucherville, Quebec.
That part of the offer did not appeal to the Quebec Province government, which called RONA's a "strategic asset." The Quebec provincial government is deeply committed to investing in forest products businesses through Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE).
RONA has around 800 stores, either corporate owned, franchises, or affiliates, with 80 of them in Quebec Province.
Rona, which went public in 2002, reported C$4.8 billion in sales last year. Lowe's reported $50.2 billion, with 1,745 north American stores, 31 in Canada.
A corporate history recounts recent growth: From 2000 to 2005, RONA acquired 66 Cashway Building Centre stores,then 51 stores of Revy Home Centres, Lansing Buildall and Revelstoke, with 5,000 employees from Ontario to British Columbia and Réno-Dépôt/The Building Box with its 20 big-box stores in Quebec and Ontario. It then acquired 16 Totem Building Supplies stores in Alberta. A 320,000-square-foot distribution center in Calgary was also added.
Bill Esler, Associate Publisher/ Editor in Chief, Woodworking Network Bill is responsible for editing Custom Woodworking Business and coordinating all content for Wood & Wood Products , CLOSETS , Woodworkingnetwork.com and Closetsdaily.com, along with related newsletters. Bill’s expertise includes using innovative print manufacturing techniques to grow audience engagement, using textured offset, digital printing, purls, QR codes; and lead-generating webcasts, custom websites, and custom digital and print content.
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