High Court sanctions £129m acquisition of AGA Rangemaster by US group

LEGAL barriers to the proposed £129m acquisition of Midlands-based range oven and boiler manufacturer AGA Rangemaster by US group, the Middleby Corporation have been overcome.

The High Court has sanctioned the deal clearing the way for the acquisition to proceed to a timetable which should see the deal complete on September 23. The move will see the cancellation of AGA Rangemaster shares on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.

AGA shareholders had agreed the approach at a general meeting earlier this month.
Shares in AGA were suspended yesterday pending the decision by the High Court.

AGA and Middleby first announced in July that they had reached agreement on the terms of a takeover deal that would see the US group acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of AGA by Middleby UK Residential Holding, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Middleby.

AGA’s pension problems have been documented for some time and it said last month that the £129m offer by Middleby included a covenant to bolster retirement payments.

With such a condition in place, the AGA board had recommended shareholders to agree the takeover, which they did at a special general meeting earlier this month.

An 11th hour move by Middleby rival Whirlpool came to nothing when the latter revealed it would not be making a formal approach for AGA.