Iowans who work for Maytag and its partners across the state are concerned about how the pending sale to rival Whirlpool might effect them. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he shares those fears but is hoping for the best, after the Maytag board of directors on Monday okayed the two-point-seven billion dollar buyout. Grassley says “I’m going to make the same plea to Whirlpool as I did to Ripplewood that these are good workers and that they oughta’ keep the jobs in Newton.” Also Monday, a previous bidder for Maytag, Ripplewood, declined to sweeten its original offer, paving the way for Whirlpool. Grassley says the way things now stand, there will be a prevailing uncertainty about everything. Grassley says if Ripplewood had made the purchase, “we would know this very day if the purchase was going to be fact.” Now, the Whirlpool action will be subject to the approval of federal antitrust regulators and it will likely be many months before there is resolution. Grassley says he has fears about the continued health of the Newton-based appliance maker. He says the pending Whirlpool purchase could be weakening Maytag over a period of months and even if the sale doesn’t go through, Maytag might still be hurt. Maytag’s shareholders are expected to vote on the Whirlpool deal by year’s end. If the buyout does happen, it would create the world’s largest appliance maker.
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