Who would have thought the maker of the 8SMS Spaghetti Magic® System would become one of they year’s great M&A tussles?
On Monday, Manitowoc of the US, known for its ice-dispensing equipment as well as its Potain tower cranes, again upped its bid for Britain’s Enodis, which controls a range of catering brands, including MerryChef accelerated cooking ovens as well as the pasta marvel pictured here.
The arrival of a revised offer - valuing Enodis at 294p a share, or just over £1bn - will come as a relief to clairvoyant speculators, who on Friday pushed Enodis stock way beyond the existing 280p terms on the table from rival US bidder Illinois Tool Works.
Yet the new offer was pitched at below the prevailing market price, which subsequently jumped to 305p on Monday as Illinois Tool followed the Manitowoc move with its own statement saying it is considering its position.
Which begs a question: have the Manitowoc management decided that dealmaking is more fun than metal bashing?
Why else offer to buy Enodis at below market value? Either Manitowoc is finding its deal maths extremely stretched at these levels or its is preparing for one final offer that will top whatever Illinois Tool can muster in response to the latest terms.
Shares in Enodis were trading at just 141p before Manitowoc first put 258p on the table in April - only to watch that bettered by Illinois Tool earlier this month.
Manitowoc has been actively pursuing Enodis for at least two years. It is keen to add the hot food equipment brands that the British firm brings to its existing cold food offerings.
The question now is whether an alternate deal might be in the offing. A defensive merger between Enodis and Middleby Corporation of the US, perhaps?
Related links:
Manitowoc raises offer for Enodis - FT.com
Lombard on UK engineering
