19.05.2008

Manitowoc ups bid for Enodis

The Manitowoc Company has increased its offer for UK food equipment company, Enodis to $2.4 billion, including the assumption of Enodis' net debt. The increased bid follows an offer from Illinois Tool Works on May 8 that trumped Manitowoc’s agreed bid.

The increased offer is five percent better than the accepted bid from Illinois and is expected to close in the second half of 2008 and is subject to court approval in the U.K and approval by Enodis shareholders.

Glen E. Tellock, Manitowoc president and chief executive officer, said: "Following the current recommended bid for Enodis announced on May 8, 2008, we reconsidered our options carefully and reaffirmed that there is significant strategic merit in bringing these two strong organizations together. Our announcement today highlights that we are determined to bring to bear the many benefits we believe a combination will deliver."

"Our increased offer is at a five percent premium to ITW's offer and a 63.7 percent premium to Enodis' average closing price for the 12 months ending April 8, 2008. As such, we believe strongly that our revised offer represents superior value for Enodis' shareholders. At the same time our revised offer still meets our financial objectives of being EPS accretive in two years and EVA positive in three years."

See Manitowoc to loose Enodis