Machine maker sold for $1.9b
Manitowoc Co, the biggest ice-machine maker in the US, agreed to buy Enodis Plc for 948 million pounds ($1.87 billion) to become the world's largest supplier of catering equipment.
Manitowoc, based in the Wisconsin town of the same name, will pay 258 pence a share and shareholders will also get a 2 pence dividend from Enodis, the US company said yesterday in a statement. The offer is 82 percent higher than London-based Enodis's closing share price on April 8, the day before the offer period began, Manitowoc said.
The purchase will quadruple Manitowoc's annual food- equipment sales to more than $2 billion, placing it ahead of current industry leader Illinois Tool Works Inc. Enodis, which supplies fryers and breakfast holding cabinets to McDonald's Corp, adds customers in Europe and Asia.
The deal also cuts Manitowoc's dependence on cranes, which account for 81 percent of sales, as US construction slows.
"The combination of Manitowoc and Enodis' businesses will create one of the leading foodservice businesses globally," Manitowoc Chairman Terry Growcock said in the statement. The purchase will allow Manitowoc to provide an "enlarged product range and a more comprehensive suite of services across the hot and cold foodservice industry," he said.
Manitowoc returned with a higher offer for Enodis almost two years after it dropped a 220 pence-a-share bid after product overlap in areas including ice machines raised US antitrust concerns. The two companies were near an agreement on April 11, according to sources.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/15/2008 page16)
