We reported earlier on news that Chinese manufacturer Haier was to buy out the rest of Fisher & Paykel as Haier already owns 20% of F&P well, seems like that behind that smoke we were talking about just earlier today has fire behind it, £540 million worth of fire.
Bloomberg and just about every other business wire service has lit up like a Christmas tree with the news that Haier has firmed up its bid to buy the rest of the renowned New Zealand based appliance manufacturer Fisher & Paykel.
Turns out that Haier has in fact put in a bid offering NZ$1.20 a share putting the bif at NZ$695 million.
Haier had indicated it planned for more investment in the company, Fisher & Paykel Chairman Keith Turner said in a Bloomberg TV interview today.
However Stuff.co.nz reports that Gary Paykel, the son of Fisher & Paykel’s co-founder Maurice Paykel, says he has yet to decide whether to sell his shares to Haier.
Paykel, Stuff reported who spent 52 years with the company until his retirement from the board last month, said he was not concerned at the prospect of foreign ownership and was confident the board would do the best by the shareholders.
“It’s been a public company since 1979,” he said. “All through those years there was always the possibility of a takeover, such as is happening now, and now’s the time.”
In a statement released last night, Haier said it aimed to retain Fisher & Paykel as a standalone company.
“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,” said Haier director Liang Haishan.
Paykel said he saw the F&P brand as a big attraction for Haier.
“From my knowledge of working with Haier they say what they’re going to do and they do what they say, and I can see with some knowledge of the appliance industry how the brand makes sense for them, both in this part of the world and further offshore.”
However, Mr Paykel told Stuff he would not comment on whether the offer price was acceptable, or whether he would sell.
“I haven’t made up my mind,” he said. “I’ll just watch with interest and see how it goes.”
However concerns raised over the potential loss of jobs in New Zealand already being voiced with F&P chairman Keith Turner trying to allay fears of job losses in an interview stating that: “[We’re] a creative company and so one shouldn’t be surprised that global enterprises looking for those sort of ‘smarts’ may come along and have a hard look at Fisher & Paykel,”.
Analysts have pointed out that, due to rising wages and general costs in China that it is very possible, even likely, that jobs at F&P’s New Zealand facilities may well not migrate to China.
