laurentian bank of canada shares tumbled as much as 9 on a report that bank of nova scotia and torontodominion bank dropped out of the running to acquire the montrealbased lender the decline reverses some of the gains laurentian made earlier in the month when it announced it was conducting a strategic review with the potential for a sale the shares surged as much as 44 the next day the most since 1989 barclays analyst john aiken said the report in the globe and mail means the probability of a sale has fallen to less than 50 at the very least it reduces the odds of a bidding war for the bank he said until laurentian management “announces the results of the strategic review and some clarity is regained we believe the stock could see a slow grind downward over the near term” aiken said in a friday morning note to investors laurentian was down 75 to c4040 at 109 pm in toronto scotiabank with its stated desire to expand in quebec and torontodominion with its large capital buffer after the first horizon corp deal fell through were two of the strongest suitors to win over laurentian aiken added scotiabank made its final decision to drop out on wednesday the globe said creating uncertainty leading up to the deadline for initial bids at the end of july bank analysts were quick to begin speculating on potential buyers when laurentian bank put itself up for sale while some pointed to scotiabank and td as likely choices veritas investment research analyst nigel d’souza flagged national bank of canada as his top candidate to acquire the bank and boost its share in its home market it’s the largest bank to be based in montreal