Chinese appliance maker drops bid to buy Maytag

Wednesday, July 20, 2005 | 9:26 a.m.

NEWTON, Iowa -- Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier America and two investment partners are ending their bid to buy rival Maytag Corp.

Maytag said in a statement late Tuesday that Haier America, a subsidiary of Haier Group Ltd., had informed it that the company and partners Bain Capital and Blackstone Group would no longer pursue their bid.

Maytag did not release the Haier letter and company spokesman John Daggett declined further comment Tuesday.

On Sunday, rival appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. also jumped into the bidding for Maytag with a $1.37 billion offer.

Newton, Iowa-based Maytag disclosed last month it was considering a preliminary $1.28 billion bid from Haier America and the investment firms that valued Maytag at $16 per share. Haier Group is China's largest appliance manufacturer, producing refrigerators, laundry machines, dishwashers and small appliances.

The offer from Michigan-based Whirlpool, the nation's largest appliance maker, values Maytag stock at $17 per share.

In May, Maytag's board accepted a $14-a-share proposal from an investment group, Triton Acquisition Holding Co., led by Ripplewood Holdings LLC.

Maytag, the nation's third largest appliance manufacturer, has been squeezed in recent years by increasing steel and fuel costs, intense competition from Asian companies and slipping profitability. The company produces appliances under several brand names, including Amana, Jenn-Air, Jade, Dixie-Narco and Hoover.

Haier, which is based in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, was one of the first Chinese companies to expand internationally, setting up factories in Algeria, Mexico, Iran and Southeast Asia before it opened its first U.S. factory, in Camden, S.C. in 2000.