HONG KONGâ€"China's Haier Group, one of the world's biggest manufacturers of household appliances, succeeded on Thursday with a sweetened 927 million New Zealand dollar ($762 million) takeover bid for Auckland-based Fisher & Paykel Appliances.
Haier's new offer of 1.28 New Zealand dollars per share values the white goods company at $762 million, and was enough to convince Fisher & Paykel's board to endorse the deal after it last month rejected a bid of 1.20 dollars per share that the Chinese firm had tabled.
The deal marks the latest step in a long running push into foreign markets for China's biggest white goods firm, which since 2000 has operated a plant in South Carolina in the United States. Last year, Haier bought Sanyo's consumer appliance businesses in Japan and Southeast Asia from Panasonic for an undisclosed sum.
Haier, which in 2009 paid around 80 million New Zealand dollars for a 20 percent stake in Fisher & Paykel, had by Thursday secured acce ptances of its offer that represented more than 50 percent of all shares - effectively winning majority control of the company. The remaining shareholders have until Nov. 6 to make a decision on whether to hang on to their shares or sell to Haier.
A state-owned firm based in the city of Qingdao that failed in a 2005 bid worth $1.28 billion for the American white goods company Maytag, Haier has grown substantially in recent years. Last year, Haier reported revenue of 150.9 billion renminbi, or $23.3 billion. The company employs around 70,000 people and sells its products in more than 160 markets globally, and has subsidiaries listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.
Fisher & Paykel is tiny by comparison, with more than 3,000 employees. Its revenues fell 7 percent to 1.04 billion New Zealand dollars in the financial year ended in March- the fifth year in row of declining sales. Net profit dropped 45 percent to 18.4 million New Zealand dollars.
B ut Fisher & Paykel also commands a leading position in the Australian and New Zealand markets - which Haier does not - and the acquisition gives the Chinese firm control of its four plants in New Zealand, Thailand, Mexico and Italy.
Since Haier first bought a minority stake in Fisher & Paykel three years ago, the New Zealand company has distributed the Chinese firm's products in Australia and New Zealand, and earlier this year launched sales in Ireland.
Announcing the original bid last month, the president of Haier's white goods group, Liang Haishan - who also occupies one of the Chinese firm's two seats on Fisher & Paykel's board - pledged to keep the company's development base in New Zealand and to boost employment over time.
‘‘We want the Fisher & Paykel Appliances brand to stay and we will support its growth as a global premium brand, with the additional advantages of operating within the Haier Group,'' he said.
UBS is the financial advisor t o Haier on the deal.
