Emerson's Hail Mary Failed. Now What?

Emerson Electric Co. CEO Dave Farr avoided a potential financial fiasco by calling off his pricey pursuit of Rockwell Automation Inc., but the reputational damage has already been done.

The maker of food-waste disposers and automation tools on Tuesday said it's withdrawing a proposal to acquire Rockwell for $225 a share in cash and stock. The announcement was largely a formality, seeing as the target company had rejected Emerson not once, not twice, but three times in recent months (the third coming last week). It was the right call to walk away: Adding more cash to the bid would have further burdened Emerson's balance sheet, but its stock was a poor currency that was only getting less valuable as investors questioned this takeover scheme.