Haier bids US$1.28bn for Maytag

Haier Group, China's top appliance producer has bid US$1.28bn to buy Maytag, the third-biggest home appliance maker in the US, the China Daily reported, citing the Maytag website. A bidding war is possible since Maytag already agreed to be acquired by an investor group headed by Ripplewood, for US$14 per share in cash Maytag's stock has been trading at over US$14 a share in anticipation of a higher bid. The preliminary non-binding Haier proposal came from Haier AmericaTrading LLC, private equity companies Bain Capital Partners LLC and Blackstone Capital Partners IV LP. Maytag, based in Iowa, said it was considering the Haier proposal because it was responsible to get the highest price for its stockholders.