Home Depot ends bank bid

ATLANTA -- The Home Depot Inc. has withdrawn an application to buy a Utah bank, saying that the loan business no longer fits into its strategy of concentrating on its retail trade.

The world's largest home improvement store chain announced in May 2006 that it would buy EnerBank USA, a home improvement loan provider, from CMS Energy Corp., a Michigan-based energy holding company.

Officials of Atlanta-based Home Depot said at the time that they wanted to expand business with contractors by making it easier to finance home improvements such as window replacements, heating and air-conditioning upgrades and landscaping. Contractors would be able to tell their clients how to obtain financing by telephone from EnerBank.