The
Middleby Corporation Completes the Purchase of
Maytag’s Blodgett Commercial Cooking Products Business
Elgin,
IL (December 21, 2001) – The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) today
completed the previously announced purchase of Maytag Corporation’s (NYSE:MYG)
Blodgett commercial cooking products business for $74 million in cash
and $21 million in notes.
Maytag
announced in May it would explore the sale of Blodgett, which
manufactures commercial cooking products under the Blodgett, Pitco
Frialator, Magikitch’n and Blodgett Combi brands.
Last year Blodgett’s net sales were approximately $135 million.
The
Middleby Corporation is a global supplier of equipment to the
foodservice industry with net sales of $127 million in 2000.
Its leading brands include Middleby Marshall, Southbend,
Toastmaster and CTX. Middleby
is uniquely positioned to support the global expansion of foodservice
concepts through its wholly owned international distribution and service
subsidiary, Middleby
Worldwide and its Asian manufacturing operation, Middleby Philippines
Corporation.
Middleby
Chairman, William F. Whitman, Jr. said, “The purchase of Blodgett will
strengthen our leading market share and diversify our product offerings.
It will broaden our customer base both in the quick-serve and
institutional segments and it will provide the opportunity to capture
significant cost savings. The
combined entity of Middleby and Blodgett will become the best single
source in the commercial cooking equipment market.”
Selim
A. Bassoul, President and CEO of Middleby commented, “We are very
excited about the announcement of this acquisition.
Like Middleby, Blodgett is a leader in the industry.
This alliance provides for an excellent strategic fit.
The merging of the two companies creates an extremely strong
combination of complementary products with industry leading brands in
all major segments of the commercial cooking equipment industry.
This transaction will immediately double the size of our company
and we see significant opportunities to further strengthen the combined
business. The broad line of
products resulting from the acquisition, combined with the strength of
Middleby’s existing global sales and distribution infrastructure will
position Middleby as the leading cooking equipment supplier in the
foodservice industry. The
combined entity will be one of the largest players in commercial cooking
equipment. We are excited
about the value this transaction brings to our customers and
shareholders.”
Financing
for the acquisition was led by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and American
Capital Strategies (NASDAQ:ACAS).
Statements
in this press release or otherwise attributable to the company regarding
the company’s business which are not historical fact are
forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company cautions investors that such statements are
estimates of future performance and are highly dependent upon a variety
of important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from such statements. Such
factors include, but are not limited to, quarterly variations in
operating results; dependence on key customers; international exposure;
foreign exchange and political risks affecting international sales;
changing market conditions; the impact of competitive products and
pricing; the timely development and market acceptance of the company’s
products; the availability and cost of raw materials; and other risks
detailed herein and from time-to-time in The Middleby Corporation’s
SEC filings, including those discussed under the heading entitled
“Risk Factors” in The Middleby Corporation’s Form 10-K for the
year ended December 30, 2000.
Company
Contact:
David B. Baker
Vice President and CFO
847-429-7915
www.middleby.com
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