Rivals cook up a bidding war for kitchen company

A billion pound bidding war is simmering at commercial ovens and kitchens group Enodis, after it recommended its second Amercian takeover offer in less than a month.

Enodis said today it had received and agreed a 282p-ashare, £1.1 billion, takeover offer from Illinois Tool Works.

The agreement comes after the Enodis board last month recommended an offer from Manitowoc, also of the US, pitched at a little less than £1 billion, or 262p a share and like the Illinois offer incorporating a 2p dividend in lieu of Enodis's next scheduled shareholder payout.

The offers for Enodis this spring come after the company's board has long held out against expressions of interest from would-be suitors, including at least five offers over the past two years.

Explaining his u-turn on the Manitowoc deal, Enodis chairman Peter Brooks said: "This offer underlines the regard which Enodis has built in the global food service industry. "Having considered carefully all aspects of the offer from Illinois, including transaction certainty from an anti-trust perspective, and the higher price which this offer provides, the Enodis directors decided unanimously to recommend the offer."

Enodis has had a chequered history, changing its name from Berisford earlier this decade after it sold the ill-starred Magnet household kitchens company.

Previous bidders to pursue Enodis have included the Aga kitchens group.