Haier to drop out of Maytag bidding: report

A group led by Chinese appliance maker Haier was "close" to telling Maytag Tuesday night that it would not submit a formal offer for the company, the Financial Times reported. Haier, working with buyout firms Bain Capital and Blackstone, had concluded that a formal offer for Maytag would probably be too expensive, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The Haier consortium submitted an indicative proposal in July to buy Maytag for US$16 per share, or US$1.28bn before Whirlpool made an offer Monday to buy Maytag for US$17 per share, or US$1.35bn.