Benton Harbor, Mich. – Wasting no time after receiving the Justice Department’s blessings last Thursday, Whirlpool completed its long-anticipated acquisition of Maytag on Friday.
Whirlpool said the newly combined enterprise would begin the integration process immediately. Whirlpool management will lead the combined company, which will be headquartered at Whirlpool headquarters, here. The company said it plans to provide more detailed information about its merger plans in approximately 60 days.
“The addition of the Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana and other brands, and the people who support those brands, will allow Whirlpool to more fully deploy our innovation capability across a wide assortment of high-quality products and services,” said Jeff M. Fettig, Whirlpool’s chairman and CEO. “The combined companies will create substantial benefits for consumers, trade customers and shareholders through continued development of innovative products, improved quality and service, and cost efficiencies.”
Under the terms of the agreement between the two companies, former stockholders of Maytag are entitled to receive $10.50 in cash and 0.1196 of a share of Whirlpool common stock for each share of Maytag common stock held, or a total of approximately $848 million in cash and approximately 9.6 million shares of Whirlpool common stock. The aggregate transaction value, including approximately $0.9 billion of Maytag debt, is $2.6 billion.
The combined company plans to release its first quarter earnings results on April 25.