Posted on 06/26/2005 11:39:57 PM PDT by snowsislander
BEIJING, June 27 -- Chinese home appliance maker Haier Group had raised its bidding price for U.S. appliance group Maytag Corp. to US$2.25 billion from the previous US$1.28 billion, the China Business News reported.
"The acquisition group lead by Haier has promised to take up a total of US$975 million worth of Maytag debt, pushing its total bid to US$2.25 billion," the Shanghai-based paper quoted an unidentified source as saying.
Earlier last week, Haier and private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Blackstone Capital Partners offered US$16 per share, or a total of US$1.28 billion, in cash for Maytag.
Competing bidder Ripplewood Holdings had offered in May to take over US$975 million of Maytag debt, as well as a US$14 per share, or a total of US$2.1 billion, in cash. Haier spokesperson Ji Guangqiang was not immediately available for comment.
Should Haier succeed in acquiring Maytag, it would become one of the top four home appliance makers in the United States, along with Whirlpool, General Electric and Electrolux of Sweden.
Haier Group, headquartered in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, had total sales of US$12.05 billion in 2004. It has two listed arms -- Qingdao Haier Co. Ltd. and Haier Electronics Group Co. Ltd.
Trading in Haier's shares was suspended in Shanghai and its Hong Kong shares were down 1.49 percent at HK$0.198 Friday.
(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)
Maybe they will start making the A107 washer again, the last decent washer Maytag put out.
If someone beats us based on quality and value, it ain't their fault, it is ours. I wish it wasn't so, but is, is.
the selling of US companies to the PRC should be considered
treason
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050627-010217-7779r.htm
Now the Maytag repair man will not only be lonely,but also working for 50 cents an hour.
"If someone beats us based on quality and value, it ain't their fault, it is ours. I wish it wasn't so, but is, is."
You don't know if the Chinese will beat us on quality and value as they don't own Maytag yet. What if they buy it and cheapen the quality and value? Hmmmmm? I just can't imagine Maytag, of all things, becoming a Commie company. The horror of it.
"Maytag quality" is a lot of hot air. Maybe the Chinese can whip them into shape.
...and yet, do you imagine that "the horror of it" will induce a single person to buy one less cheap t-shirt or one less poorly made plastic piece of crap from wal-mart? Somehow I don't think so...
Reminds me of the railroad coolies in the last century. As long as the railroads weren't finished, the Chinese were welcome. As soon as they were done, they got ran out and those who wanted to stay got hunted down.
A Russian conglomerate purchased America's only palladium mine, Stillwater, a few years back. Palladium is a stratigic mineral. The government let that sale go thru.
For what it is worth, the Japanese make excellent appliances, and I think they are better than anything than I have seen sold in the U.S. I would like to see the Japanese companies come here and give some real competition on quality, but their appliances are expensive and I don't think they would be able to compete on the price side.
Somehow I don't think so...
Right you are.
Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
Trust me, they can't degrade the quality. I patched up an old, thrown away A107 with PC7 epoxy and electrical tape, and ran it for 10 years without a burp. When my daughter bought her first home, we bought a Maytag washer and dryer as a gift. Best that washer has ever done so far is 5 years without major problems. It is dead again, as I speak.
This may be OK for some, but I compare performance to higher standards. Newer should mean better, or why bother?
Planned obselesence is just an excuse for being too damned sorry to do it right.
My washer, my dryer, my washer, my dryer...
(sorry, I'm in Chinatown mode)
To quote from the June 30th, 2004 release: "The U.S. net international investment position at yearend 2003 was a negative $2,430.7 billion (preliminary) with direct investment valued at current cost, as the value of foreign investments in the United States exceeded the value of U.S. investments abroad." My own guess is that we will be south of there, hopefully not by too much.
Know what's more interesting? Despite huge cash reserves in dollars, the Chinese haven't bought much (if any) real estate...
Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
Great pic.
As opposed to the Japanese, who own 1/2 of Arizona, 1/2 of New Mexico and huge farms (ranches) in Texas.
Look, corporations are bought and sold all the time. Burger King is British, etc. What bothers me is that WE can not buy any of their companies. Imagine what would happen if Nike bought a shoe factory in China and competed with them on their turf. Nike could pay a decent wage, get the best talent, and take the profit from the manufacturing end.......Bob
That's interesting. I hadn't seen any analyses of what all the Chinese are investing in here overall, but with the real estate bubble, I am not surprised that they are not all that interested.
I wish that BEA would put more detail in their IIP reporting. Their "detailed" versions here and here are anything but detailed. If they could just post the raw stats -- even in csv form on an ftp server would do -- that would certainly be more informative than the pap that they do serve up.
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