Carl C. Icahn struck out in his effort to buy the Commercial Metals Company, 
announcing on Wednesday that he was withdrawing his $1.7 billion bid to take over the metal recycler.
Mr. Icahn disclosed that as of his offer’s deadline at midnight on Tuesday, his investment firm had received only 23 percent of the company’s shares. That fell short of his requirement of 40.1 percent, which combined with his own 10 percent stake would have given him control of Commercial Metals.
Mr. Icahn announced his cash offer of $15 a share in November, but the stock remained consistently below that bid, indicating that investors did not believe he would succeed. (It came close, reaching $14.99 a share on Jan. 6.)
Commercial Metals itself had rejected the offer, deriding it as a “bargain-basement price.”
