MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

HAIER-LED CONSORTIUM MAKES BID FOR MAYTAG

A consortium led by a top Chinese manufacturer has made an offer to buy Maytag, the third-largest American home appliance producer, for more than $1.25 billion.

The Chinese firm, Qingdao Haier, in concert with two private equity firms, the Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, has offered $16 a share, Maytag said. The bid comes after Maytag agreed last month to a buyout deal with Ripplewood Holdings, which had offered $14 a share for the Newton, Iowa-based maker of Hoover vacuums and high-end washing machines. Under the terms of the agreement with Ripplewood, the period during which Maytag could solicit counteroffers expired Saturday. But the deal still allows Maytag to entertain new bids.

Haier has struggled in the North American and European markets, but the acquisition of Maytag would give the Chinese firm a popular brand name and an extensive distribution network.

– Special to the Sun

REAL ESTATE

CARLYLE TO BUY TRUMP SITES FOR $1.76 BILLION

Carlyle Group and Extell Development agreed to buy three apartment buildings and a tract of land on the Upper West Side from a group of Hong Kong investors and Donald Trump for $1.76 billion. The buildings, which consist of 1,325 apartments with about 1.06 million square feet, about 40,000 square feet of retail space, and 424 parking spaces, will be resold to Equity Residential for $816 million, Chicago-based Equity Residential said yesterday in a statement. The land, which is bounded by 59th and 65th streets, West End Avenue, and Riverside Boulevard, can accommodate the development of more than 10 buildings, closely held Carlyle Group, a Washington-based buyout company, said yesterday.

– Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON

REVISION OF TAX CODE, REPEAL OF ESTATE TAX MAY BE ON ICE

Congress will likely postpone a tax-code overhaul until 2007 so the findings of a presidential advisory panel can be debated in next year’s congressional elections, Senator Kyl of Arizona said. Mr. Kyl, the no. 4 Republican in the Senate, said lawmakers would focus on other tax issues in the near term, including extending for two years the 15% rate on dividends and capital gains scheduled to increase in 2009 and seeking a compromise with Democrats that would stop short of full repeal of the federal estate tax.

– Bloomberg News

ENERGY

OIL JUMPS TO RECORD

Crude oil jumped above $59 a barrel to a second-straight record in New York as producers struggled to meet increasing fuel consumption. “The hysteria continues to permeate the market and push prices higher,” said Jim Steel at Refco in New York. “The threat of industrial action in the North Sea and the fears about Nigeria are enough to keep the pot boiling.”

Crude oil for July delivery rose 78 cents to $59.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $59.52 a barrel, the highest since trading began in 1983. Prices are up 53% from a year ago.

– Bloomberg News