Mooresville-based Lowe’s Inc. said Monday it has withdrawn an offer to purchase Canada’s largest home improvement retailer, Rona Inc., a deal that would have sharply increased Lowe’s share of the Canadian market.

Lowe’s approached Rona about the transaction, which would have valued Rona at about $1.8 billion, in July. Rona turned down the unsolicited proposal, which, at C$14.50 a share, represented a 37 percent premium to Rona’s stock price at the time. The offer from Lowe’s was also opposed by politicians in Quebec, who said they wanted to keep the Boucherville-based company Canadian.

But some analysts said that Lowe’s might still pursuer Rona. The Canadian retailer’s stock fell more than 11 percent after Monday’s announcement.

“We would not be so quick to assume this episode is concluded,” wrote Carol Levenson, an analyst with independent bond rating agency Gimme Credit. “Further severe share price deterioration prompted by the withdrawal of the Lowe’s proposal could pressure the RONA board to talk to Lowe’s after all.”

Robert Niblock, Lowe’s CEO, said during the retailer’s earnings report last month that Lowe’s was still considering all of its options to acquire the company, and didn’t rule out a hostile bid. Also, Lowe’s has said it had the support of institutional shareholders who own about 15 percent of Rona’s stock.

“We are committed to our business in Canada. ... We do not intend to speculate at this point about how we may grow the business in the future,” Lowe’s spokeswoman Julie Yenichek said Monday, via email. She said Lowe’s is still evaluating its options, including “organic growth,” to expand in Canada.

Rona operates some 800 stores of varying sizes, many of them franchise and affiliate locations, and the acquisition would have been Lowe’s largest. Lowe’s operates about 1,745 stores, only 35 of them in Canada.

Shares of Lowe’s closed down 17 cents, less than 1 percent, at $29.23 a share on Monday.

On Monday, Lowe’s executives said via a news release that Rona’s board of directors wasn’t interested in the deal.

“Lowe’s has repeatedly attempted to engage the Board of Directors of Rona with respect to its proposal in order to conduct confirmatory due diligence and move forward with a friendly, negotiated transaction,” said Lowe’s. “It is unfortunate that the RONA Board of Directors did not recognize the important economic and commercial benefits of this proposal for its stakeholders and for Canada.”

Rona did not immediately comment.