Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier Group along with Bain Capital and Blackstone Group, have made a $1.28 billion offer to buy Maytag.
The offer is worth $16 per share, but Maytag has already accepted an offer from Ripplewood Holdings of $1.13 billion worth $14 per share. The bidding war begins.
Under the Haier proposal, due diligence is expected to take six to eight weeks, Maytag said in its statement. The group would look to Merrill Lynch to provide debt financing, it added.
No official counteroffer has been submitted yet, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Bain and Blackstone declined to comment. Haier has said it was interested in Maytag, but a spokeswoman would not comment further on Tuesday.
This is the first time Haier has tried to acquire a company internationally. The company seems to be following the lead of China’s Lenovo who recently bought IBM’s PC business for $1.25 billion.
“It is very difficult for Chinese appliance makers to establish a brand and sales network in the U.S.,” Bloomberg quoted analyst Sun Shengquan as saying. “The shortcut is to buy an existing American brand. Quite a few Chinese companies may also follow this pattern.”
After falling 34% over the past year, Maytag shares are beginning to pick back up now that these offers are coming in. They rose 67 cents this morning on the NYSE.
Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
