Bid to Purchase Big O Tires Falls Through : Acquisitions: A group of dealers led by the CEO drops its bid to buy the company for $62 million. No reason is given.

Big O Tires Inc., a retail tire and automotive service franchise chain, said Wednesday that a group led by chief executive Steven Cloward has dropped a $62-million plan to acquire the company.

The group, which includes independent franchisees acting on behalf of a majority of Big O’s dealers, did not disclose its reason for the action, a company spokeswoman said.

In December, the group offered to take Big O private at $18.50 a share, exceeding an offer of $18 a share made in November by AKH Co., an Anaheim-based tire store chain.

Big O management representatives have said they remain interested in completing a sale of the company “on mutually agreeable terms to shareholders, management and the board.”

Big O, based in Englewood, Colo., said it will continue to review alternatives to enhance its value.

The management buyout offer had received the backing of Kenneth Pavia, Big O’s second-largest shareholder.

Pavia, a general partner at Balboa Investment Group LP, led a successful proxy fight last spring that forced the company to consider alternatives for enhancing shareholder value. He had been serving as an adviser to the board committee that was pursuing the buyout.

As recently as Tuesday, the investment committee thought the buyout offer was going to go through, Pavia said. However, the proposal apparently fell apart later in the day.

In December, Big O said it faced a class-action lawsuit in Nevada against the company and its directors, seeking to bar its sale to the dealer-management group.

Big O has 370 stores in 18 states, mainly in the West and Midwest. The company also distributes tires and other automotive products to 41 associated dealers in British Columbia, Canada.

Big O’s stock was off $1.50 to close at $14.25 in Wednesday’s Nasdaq trading.