The founding family of Quicksilver Resources has cancelled its plans to take the oil and gas company private, as talks with its second-biggest shareholder ended, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Darden family, which has a 28% stake in Quicksilver, and a hedge fund with 15% stake, SPO Partners, had three weeks until March 16, 2011, to submit a formal offer. The Darden investor group expected the offer to be more than $16 a share, valuing the company at more than $2.7 billion, adds Bloomberg. The Dardens own Quicksilver stake through a private partnership, Quicksilver Energy.

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