FESmag

Joseph Carbonara

About Face: Enodis Accepts ITW Offer, Declines Manitowoc
May 8, 2008

In a move that’s as interesting as it appears to be abrupt, Enodis has accepted an offer to be purchased by ITW, which is the parent company of such foodservice brands as Berkel, Hobart, Traulsen, Vulcan and Wolf. The estimated fair market value of the deal is $2.3 billion.  

The fact that a company’s making a play for Enodis is not really anything new, since other members of the equipment community have shown intermittent interest in this U.K.-based company during the past few years.

What drew my attention and surprised many observers was the fact that a few weeks ago, Enodis agreed to be bought by Manitowoc for roughly $2.1 billion. At the time of the first announcement, both companies’ boards of directors had approved the transaction so it seemed as if this was a done deal, save for regulatory and shareholder approval. For its part, Manitowoc issued a release saying it was considering its options and would make an announcement in due course.

Industry consolidation/mergers have been moving at a brisk pace over the past couple of years, with TriMark buying up some of the bigger equipment and supplies dealers around. And the factories have remained busy, too, with companies such as Middleby purchasing a handful of companies during the past year. Still, an about-face of this magnitude is surprising, to say the least, and has undoubtedly generated some e-mail traffic today.

I will be curious to see how this plays out moving forward. More importantly, it will be interesting to see if Manitowoc will pursue another opportunity to add a hot component to its foodservice offerings.

Check out Bloomberg and Forbes for additional information about this deal.

Posted by Joseph Carbonara on May 8, 2008 | Comments (2)