It’s been a whirlwind 72 hours in the planned acquisition of Canadian retailer West 49 in which Billabong, then US retailer Zumiez issued statements of their intentions to acquire the company. However Zumiez has now officially pulled out of the race and elected to discontinue its pursuit of an acquisition of West 49. Zumiez decision almost certainly clears the way for Billabong to finalise its planned acquisition. Earlier, West 49 had issued a press release announcing that Zumiez had advised West 49 that, subject to a satisfactory due diligence review, it would be prepared to make an offer, that would not be subject to a financing condition, to acquire all of the outstanding common shares and preferred shares of West 49 for a cash price in excess of C$1.30 per share (the price offered by Billabong). The decision by Zumiez to discontinue its pursuit of an acquisition of West 49 is a result of not being able to reach an agreement with West 49 on the terms of the due diligence process. Throughout the review West 49 had maintained that their special committee and board would “Continue to support the Billabong transaction and confirm their unanimous conclusion that the transaction with Billabong is in the best interests of the Company and is fair to the Company’s security holders." West 49's special committee of the board of directors offered to allow Zumiez to review the same information that was made available to Billabong and in the same manner as it was made available to Billabong, subject to Zumiez entering into the form of confidentiality agreement. However, Zumiez advised West 49 that it was not prepared to proceed with the due diligence process on that basis. Accordingly, West 49's board of directors concluded that there is no longer a reasonable expectation that Zumiez will make a proposal that is financially superior to the Billabong transaction. Phew…