Aga suitor Middleby urges cooker-maker to accept 'certain' offer

US catering equipment maker Middleby today reacted to the potential intervention of Whirlpool in its £129 million takeover bid for Aga by telling investors in the classic cooker-maker that its is the only certain bid on the table.

Last night the Takeover Panel set a “put up or shut up” deadline on Whirlpool, whose interest only emerged on Tuesday, of 14 September.

That is half the usual period granted by the Panel in such cases and Middleby jumped on this to tell Aga investors that they should get on and vote for its bid at their meeting next week.

It said: “The making of an offer by Whirlpool is subject to a number of conditions and there is no certainty any offer will be forthcoming.

By contrast, Middleby’s acquisition has no regulatory or anti-trust conditions.”