With two other parties looking to acquire Maytag, Whirlpool has gone and increased its bid for the company by a dollar or 5.9% to $18 per share.
The other parties after Maytag are Ripplewood and China’s Haier Group. Maytag’s board of directors has been in favor of Rippelwood’s offer of $14 a share.
“We are making one final request that your board make the determination that is clearly correct and clearly in the best interests of your shareholders,” Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettig told Maytag.
Maytag reported its financial results for the second quarter yesterday, with consolidated sales of $1.23 billion. That’s a 6.7% increase from last year’s second quarter.
The company’s net income for the quarter was $3.5 million or 4 cents per share. Last year, the company took a net loss of $41.1 million for the second quarter.
“Compared to last year, operations benefited from sales growth, a positive mix in major appliances, and savings from our ‘One Company’ restructuring and the Galesburg plant closing,” said Ralph Hake, Maytag’s Chairman and CEO.
“However, these improvements were offset by rising raw material costs including steel and resins, higher fuel and transportation costs and lower floor care pricing,” he said.
Hake said that sales of major appliances showed solid improvement during the quarter with refrigeration and cooking product sales up appreciably.
“Sales of our French-Door bottom-freezers under the Jenn-Air, Maytag and Amana brand names are strong,” said Hake. “In cooking, all Jenn- Air products, including cook tops and wall ovens generated positive gains for the company. Also, Jenn-Air stainless steel dishwashers and Maytag’s new Neptune front-load washers have generated encouraging consumer interest this quarter.”
Profits from Maytag’s Hoover unit have declined this year, and Best Buy stopped selling their washing machines and refrigerators, but the company doesn’t seem to be hurting too bad.
Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
