Posted on 07/17/2005 7:58:30 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
U.S. appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. (WHR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Sunday proposed to acquire smaller rival Maytag for $17 a share in a deal worth $2.3 billion, sparking a bidding war for the maker of Hoover vacuums.
Maytag, whose products include Amana and Jenn-Air appliances, agreed in May to be acquired by Triton Acquisition Holding, an investment vehicle led by New York private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, for $14 a share.
Maytag said on July 13 that the Triton deal was approved by the Federal Trade Commission, and set an Aug. 19 shareholder vote in Newton, Iowa, where it is based.
A group including Chinese appliance maker Haier has also expressed interest in buying Maytag for $16 a share, but has not made a formal bid.
The Benton, Harbor, Michigan, maker of KitchenAid and Whirlpool appliances said its offer was valued at $2.3 billion in cash and stock. It said it would hold a Monday conference call with analysts to discuss the matter.
This is good but most of these brands are made in China. So I do not know what to think.
That's a helluva lot better than a buyout by an arm of the ChiCom gov't.
I thought GM owned Frigigaire.
Who's better off owning them?
Our Amana fridge doesn't indicate a place of manufacture on any of the labels, fwiw, so I couldn't double check.
Way to go Whirlpool Corp. Thanks.
I know the appliance business. Hardly any washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers (large, kitchen-style refrig and freezers), ranges and dishwashers are made in China and sold into the US. China makes a shitload of refrigerators, but they are for the Chinese and other Asian markets. Their quality is sub-par, but will improve over time. The lion's share of large white goods are still made in the US. GE, Whirlpool, and Maytag make some of their US refrigerators in Mexico. Electrolux (Frigidaire brand) is in the middle of closing their Greenville, MI plant which makes Side X Side refrigerators and larger Top Freezer refrigerators and moving most of this production to Jaurez.
In the case of refrigerators there are about 10 million produced. 75% are still produced in the US.
All large freezers are made in the US (75%) and Canada (25%).
GE makes a lot of ranges in Mexico, probably 50% of their produciton. Whirlpool makes a small number of ranges in Monterrey. Again, 75% or more is made in the US.
85% or more of dishwashers are made in the US. The rest are made in Canada or Europe.
I would gues that 75% or so of washers and dryers are made in the US. The rest are made in Germany (Whirlpool Duet washer), Korea (LG, Samsung) and Mexico.
This gives a rough sketch of the appliance manufacturing market.
If Haier screws up misses out Maytag then they will have made a very big strategic blunder. The purchase of Maytag would give them immediate distribution into the US. This is worth more than the short-term cash flow of producing Maytag products.
I like the Whirlpool's offer. Whirlpool is a large company which is focused only on appliances and has a global presence...every part of the world. They are a very professionally run company.
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