I think the reason for this was
They realized they had gotten their math wrong:
1 dying company + 1 dying company ≠ a successful company.
(they'd probably overlooked the little slashy line through the equals the first time around)
Blockbuster Inc. yesterday backed away from its $1bn bid for consumer electronics retailer Circuit City citing gloomy “market conditions”. The movie rental chain’s CEO James Keyes said in a statement: “We have determined that it is not in the best interest of Blockbuster's shareholders to proceed with an acquisition of Circuit …