French oil major Total SA (TOT) said Tuesday its has withdrawn its C$830 million hostile bid for Canada's UTS Energy Corp. (UTS.T) after failing to win over enough shareholders, kicking down shares of the would-be oil sands developer.

Total had garnered less than the required two-thirds support from shareholders when the C$1.75-a-share offer expired late Monday, prompting the company to abandon the deal.

"We do not see for the time being any scenario that would allow us to reach any deal with the [UTS] board," Total spokeswoman Phenelope Semavoine said, adding that UTS is "not essential to our long-term strategy in the oil sands."

UTS' board of directors had already come out against the offer as "inadequate," urging shareholders to reject it despite being sweetened from the initial C$1.30-a-share offer made in January. Semavoine declined to comment on how many UTS shareholders had supported Total's bid.

Following Total's announcement, UTS shares sank 17% to C$1.30 in Toronto as the market opened Tuesday, before recovering to trade recently at C$1.45, still down about 8%.

Total's bid for UTS focused on the Calgary firm's main asset, a 20% stake in Petro-Canada's (PCZ) delayed Fort Hills oil sands development. The original C$617 million bid made in January marked the first takeover attempt in Alberta's high-cost oil sands since plunging crude prices squeezed project economics, prompting a succession of delays and cancellations.

Crude's freefall from July's all-time highs near $150 a barrel and the meltdown in financial markets wiped billions off oil-sands companies' market valuations, and small non-producing firms like UTS were among the hardest hit.

Total, which has made little secret of its enthusiasm for the oil sands, already holds extensive leases near the Fort Hills site, including a majority stake in the oft-stalled Joslyn mine. Current production is limited, but Total is targeting 250,000 barrels a day from the oil sands by 2020, Semavoine said.

The company "remains committed to its current activities and investments in Canada, and will continue to implement its strategy in the oil sands," Michael Borrell, head of Total's Canadian arm, said in a statement.

-By Hyun Young Lee and Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 613-237-0669; hyunyoung.lee@dowjones.com