An investment firm has offered to pay $477 million for Steinway Musical Instruments Inc. ($38 per share), topping a previous bid of $438 million by Kohlberg & Co.
Steinway, a legendary American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, had agreed to sell itself to Kohlberg for $35 per share.
However, a new mysterious investment firm, which manages over $15 billion, just made a higher bid for the company.
This has triggered a bidding war, and Steinway’s board have given Kohlberg the option to propose a better offer than $38 per share before Wednesday.
Each grand piano made by Steinway takes several months to make. The company has manufacturing facilities all over the world, it was originally founded by Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg in 1853.
The offer increased the stock value of Steinway by 9 percent to $39.50 – representing an increase of $3.27 per share.
The result of the bidding war between the two financial firms will be decided on Wednesday.