LONDON (Reuters) - Kingfisher said on Thursday it was considering all options regarding its proposed 275 million euro ($300 million) takeover of France's Mr Bricolage after the majority of the board and the largest shareholder of the target company expressed reservations.
Last July Kingfisher, Europe's largest home improvement retailer, entered into a binding agreement with the principal shareholders of Mr Bricolage to buy their shareholdings subject to satisfactory anti-trust clearance.
Under the terms of the deal, Kingfisher would acquire 41.9 percent of the share capital from the Association Nationale des Promoteurs de Faites Le Vous-Mene (ANPF), an organisation controlled by Mr Bricolage's franchisees, and 26.2 percent from the founding Tabur family.
Kingfisher had been working very closely with Mr Bricolage, the ANPF, the Tabur family and the ADLC, the French competition authority.
However, on Wednesday Mr Bricolage and the ANPF indicated that the undertakings in France required to obtain the competition clearance were no longer in their interests.
"Without the consent of Mr Bricolage and the ANPF, the competition clearance undertakings necessary to finalise the transaction cannot be given," said Kingfisher.
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"Kingfisher is considering all of its options."
Shares in Kingfisher were down 1.7 percent at 1434 GMT. Shares in Mr Bricolage were suspended in Paris on Monday.
($1 = 0.9153 euros)
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Neil Maidment)