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Haier, partners drop bid to buy Maytag
NEW YORK - Haier Group, China's largest appliance maker, and its two private equity partners have dropped out of the $1 billion-plus bidding race for Maytag Corp., Maytag said on Tuesday.
Maytag shares, which had zoomed past Whirlpool's $17 a share offer on expectations of a bidding war, fell 2 percent to $17.15 in after-hours trade on Tuesday. "Haier certainly liked the idea of buying Maytag, but we believe it learned in the due diligence just how much of a challenge integrating this business would be," said Eric Bosshard, an analyst with FTN Midwest Securities, who follows both Maytag and Whirlpool. "While it appears to be down to Whirlpool and Ripplewood, we believe (Maytag's) board will have a hard time turning down the sure thing from Ripplewood for the upside bid with uncertainty from (Whirlpool)," Bosshard said in an e-mail. Maytag's board will meet later this week to decide if it wants to pursue Whirlpool's offer, according to sources. In May, an investor group led by Ripplewood, a New York-based private equity firm, submitted a bid to buy Maytag for $1.1 billion, or $14 a share. A month later, Maytag said that Haier and two private equity firms -- Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group -- were exploring a $16 a share bid for the company. Then Whirlpool launched a surprise offer on Sunday for
more than $1.3 billion, or $17 a share. Whirlpool, which also has the Roper and
KitchenAid brands, said it would pay at least 50 percent in cash and the balance
in shares.
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