US kitchen manuafacturer drops bid for Enodis

American kitchen equipment manufacturer Middleby has dropped its bid for UK counterpart Enodis.

Under Takeover Panel guidelines, an offer had to be tabled by midday today but the deadline lapsed without any bid being made.

Middleby’s original offer of 195p per share, which valued Enodis at £782m, was dismissed as too low.

A broker’s note by Merrill Lynch last Friday said it doubted Middleby would increase the offer because it was half the size of Enodis.

Enodis reportedly ended talks recently with US group Manitowoc about a 220p-per-share buyout.

By Tom Bill

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