) today announced it has provided notification to Woolworths Limited, its joint venture partner in Australia, of its intent to begin the process of exiting its investment in the joint venture, which operates Masters Home Improvement stores and Home Timber and Hardware Group's retail stores and wholesale distribution in Australia. Woolworth's owns two-thirds of the joint venture, and Lowe's owns one-third. Richard D. Maltsbarger, Lowe's chief development officer and president of international, commented, "While Australia offers an attractive home improvement market and the joint venture has made progress, we have decided, following a comprehensive strategic analysis, to focus our resources on areas of our business where we see greater potential return on our investment.  We have enjoyed partnering with Woolworths' management and are committed to working closely with them as we transition out of this investment."   Under the terms of the joint venture agreement, Lowe's has an option to exercise its right to exit the agreement following its notice to Woolworths. This notification was sent on Jan. 15, 2016 and triggers a process for determining the purchase price of Lowe's portion of the joint venture, which will be based on the