MONTREAL — Rona Inc. offered to acquire the Canadian operations of Lowe’s, years before it was gobbled up by the American giant, according to an autobiography by the home improvement retailer’s former CEO published Thursday. “We could buy their Canadian stores before they’re still dumping huge sums of money into a development that is slower, more expensive and more difficult than they expected,” he wrote. Lowe’s was initially not interested in Rona’s small stores, something Dutton thought was unrealistic. So Dutton said he proposed to buy all of Lowe’s profitable stores in Canada and offered the American giant a minority stake in Rona. But the meeting ended badly and Dutton left feeling that Lowe’s would try to get its hands on Rona with the support of key shareholders.

Source: National Post September 13, 2018 17:15 UTC