Court upholds Cerberus' right to walk away

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- United Rentals lost its suit against Cerberus Capital Management over an aborted $4 billion buyout, according to a report Friday afternoon.

A Delaware court ruled that United Rentals could not force Cerberus to complete the buyout, said the Wall Street Journal.

"One may plausibly upbraid Cerberus for walking away from this deal, for favoring their lenders over their targets, or for suboptimal contract editing, but one cannot reasonably criticize the firm for a failure to represent its understanding of the limitations on remedies provided by this Merger Agreement," said the judge on the case, William Chandler, as quoted by the Journal.

Cerberus and United Rentals reached a deal in July 2007, just before credit turmoil made the deal less appealing for Cerberus.

Cerberus has agreed to pay the $100 million termination fee agreed to in the contract, but United Rentals has refused to accept it, according to the Journal.

Shares of United Rentals (URI) closed at $17.91 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.