Fry's withdraws Outpost takeover bid

Fry's Electronics has withdrawn its bid to take over e-tailer Cyberian Outpost, according to a regulatory filing. Fry's, which owns 3.5 million shares, or 11 percent, of Outpost stock, offered last month to purchase all the outstanding shares of Outpost for 70 cents a share. In a letter released with Outpost's regulatory filing, Fry's did not say why it is abandoning the takeover bid.

The offer by privately held Fry's followed a merger agreement signed between Outpost and PC Connection in May. As part of that agreement, which is subject to shareholder approval, PC Connection plans to exchange 0.035 to 0.062 shares of its stock for each share of Outpost stock, depending on both PC Connection's stock price at the time the merger is complete and on Outpost's revenue. Fry's is a brick-and-mortar electronics retailer with stores in Arizona, California, Oregon and Texas.