On July 18, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed its 'BBB+' long-term and 'A-2' short-term corporate credit and other ratings on home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp. on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, Standard&Poor's revised its CreditWatch status of home and commercial appliance manufacturer Maytag Corp. to developing from CreditWatch negative. Maytag's ratings were originally placed on CreditWatch May 20, 2005, after the announcement that its board of directors approved a definitive agreement to sell the company to an investor group led by private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC, and was based on the likelihood that Maytag's leverage would increase significantly after consummating this transaction. The Ripplewood proposal calls for Maytag to be acquired for
