It’s finally over. Xerox announced late Tuesday that it is abandoning its tender offer to acquire HP, citing the global health crisis from Covid-19 and the ensuing difficult market environment. The maker of photocopiers also called off its effort to enter into a proxy fight to replace HP’s board.

It marks the end of a dramatic back-and-forth struggle that began last November, when Xerox began its pursuit of HP, the second largest computer maker.

HP has repeatedly rejected Xerox’s overtures, including its most recent offer, valued at about US$35-billion. But while Xerox is blaming coronavirus, its attempt to take over a company more than three times its size never made much sense in the first place.

Not only would it require tens of billions in inherently risky debt financing — the whole strategy of buying a challenged business and relying primarily on cost savings was never a winner.

In February, for example, HP reported a 7% decline in its printer revenue and a 10% drop in printer hardware unit sales for its fiscal first quarter ended in January. Cost cutting is not going to save this troubled business. Xerox wasn’t much better when it posted a sales decline for its December quarter.

Both companies should instead focus on figuring out new growth strategies for their respective businesses, instead of being distracted by M&A and financial engineering.