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Enodis suitor gets edge on rival(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 20--The bidding war for British cooking equipment supplier Enodis PLC heated up Monday, as Manitowoc Co. came back with a second offer to trump a bid from Illinois Tool Works of Glenview, Ill. Manitowoc, which makes ships, cranes and ice machines, increased its offer to 296 pence ($5.79) per share, valuing Enodis at 1.08 billion pounds ($2.1 billion). ITW had offered $2 billion. Enodis had no immediate comment, but investors appeared to expect even higher bids. Shares in the company, which supplies fryer systems to restaurants and retailers, including McDonald's Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., rose 2.4 percent to 305 pence ($5.94) on Monday. Manitowoc shares fell $1.56 to close at $39.27. Manitowoc opened the bidding for Enodis in April when it made an offer of 260 pence ($5.09) per share, which was accepted by the British company. However, Enodis changed allegiance when Illinois Tool Works made a sweetened 282 pence bid, or about $2 billion, earlier this month. Both of the suitors are including a 2 pence (4 cents) per-share dividend as part of their bids. Manitowoc said its offer was more than double Enodis' share price on April 8, the day before Manitowoc made its first approach . "They want Enodis. There's no doubt about that," said George Reis with George V. Reis Investment Group, in Two Rivers. Illinois Tool Works said it noted the increased offer and was considering its next move. An Enodis-Manitowoc combination would give Manitowoc entry into two major new markets: hot food service and food retail equipment. "I am not completely surprised" at the bidding war, Reis said. "But they're not going to jeopardize" themselves to acquire Enodis. "The market liked it better when they got beat out," Reis added. Enodis has a range of food-service products, including cooking equipment, refrigeration units and ice- and beverage-dispensing equipment used in fast-food restaurants, institutions and supermarkets. It has fought off a series of takeover bids over the past two years. The company, which has manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and Asia, and employs 6,800 workers, last week reported a profit of 9.7 million pounds ($19 million) for the six months ending March 29, compared with 17.3 million pounds in the comparable period a year ago. It attributed the drop in profit to the cost of restructuring. Acquiring Enodis would nearly double Illinois Tool Works' food equipment business and make the combined food equipment business nearly one-fifth of its total revenue. The acquisition would boost Manitowoc's presence in Europe, where it has only a small share of the food equipment industry. After the acquisition, revenue from equipment ranging from ice machines to pasta cookers would account for 36 percent of the company's total revenue -- up from 11 percent now. In 2006, Manitowoc scrapped a $1.5 billion takeover bid for Enodis amid regulatory concerns about product overlap in areas, including ice machines. The failed bid was one of three Enodis attracted that year. The Associated Press contributed to this report. To see more of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jsonline.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |