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Haier Group bids US$1.3bn for Maytag
Beijing: China's leading home appliance maker Haier Group has made a bid to buy Maytag, the third-largest appliance maker in the United States, for US$1.28 billion.

Maytag has received a preliminary non-binding proposal from Haier America Trading LLC, private equity companies Bain Capital Partners LLC and Blackstone Capital Partners IV LP, the US company announced yesterday on its website.

According to Maytag's announcement, the consortium offered to acquire all outstanding shares of Maytag for US$16 per share cash, higher than the previous bid by Ripplewood Holdings LLC.

On May 19, Maytag had agreed to be acquired by an investor group led by Ripplewood for US$14 per share cash. The Newton, Iowa-based company, which has 79.7 million shares outstanding as of April 2, said it is considering the proposal.

With a history of more than 100 years, the appliance maker is worth US$4.7 billion and offers a full range of products including washers, dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators under the brand names Maytag, Hoover, Jenn-Air, Amana, Dixie-Narco and Jade.

With its good established brand names and, especially, well-developed market and sales networks, the purchase of Maytag would give Haier an edge in the US market.
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