US kitchen equipment manufacturer Middleby has dropped its bid for UK counterpart Enodis. Under takeover guidelines, an offer had to be tabled by midday on Monday this week, but the deadline lapsed without a bid being made.
Middleby's original offer of 195p per share, which valued Enodis at £782m, was dismissed as being too low.
A Merrill Lynch broker's note last Friday said that it doubted Middleby could increase its offer because it was half the size of Enodis.
The UK company made a pre-tax profit of £56m on £665m turnover last year.
Enodis also recently ended talks with US group Manitowoc about a 220p-per-share buyout.