Middleby Corporation

The Middleby Corporation

File:The Middleby Corporation Logo.png
Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: MIDD
Industry	Commercial Cooking Equipment
Predecessor	Middleby Marshall Inc.
Headquarters	Elgin, Illinois, U.S.
Area served	International
Key people	Selim Bassoul, CEO
Website	www.middleby.com

The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD), also known as Middleby Corp., is a publicly traded commercial and residential cooking and industrial process equipment company based in Elgin, Illinois. The company manufactures commercial cooking equipment, industrial processing equipment, and residential appliances. The commercial cooking equipment side of Middleby does business with 97 out of the top 100 food service chains in the United States and internationally.

Company history

The company was founded by Joseph Middleby and John Marshall in 1888 as a bakery supplier. The company made custom portable ovens for the bakery industry. Middleby sold the company to Marshall in the early 1900s. The company was privately held by descendents of Marshall until it was purchased by a private company in 1976. The company was purchased by TMC Industries Ltd. in 1983 and changed its name to The Middleby Corporation in 1985 and moved its headquarters to Elgin, Illinois in the late 1980s.

By 1996, the company had expanded its manufacturing base overseas and had opened a manufacturing and training facility employing 190 in Santa Rosa, Laguna, the Philippines. Sometime prior to 2006, the subsidiary Middleby Worldwide had been formed to manage international operations; Michael Valentino was named president of this unit in 2006.

By 2006, the company had successfully streamlined operations to an extent allowing them to close two of its seven manufacturing facilities in the United States with no loss of product lines or capacity; this was in addition to three facilities shut down in 2001 and 2002. Also in the 2001 to 2006 period, the company's income yield from sales increased from about 3% to just over 10%, while it's stock valuation increased by over 15-fold, performance gains which were attributed to CEO Bassoul.

The Middleby Corporation was originally available for purchase on the NASDAQ over-the-counter market, and became listed on the American Stock Exchange in 1988. Its first public offering came in September 1997 with a share price offering of $10 on the NASDAQ. Selim Bassoul became the CEO of Middleby in January 2001.

Notable acquisitions

Middleby has acquired numerous businesses in the US and internationally. In 1990, Middleby acquired a majority stake in Asbury Associates Inc., a Filipino manufacturer of food service equipment. It increased its interest to 80% by 1991 and became the company's main export distributor internationally with the exception of Canada where Middleby already owned a distributor. The same year, it established Fab-Asia, Inc., a separate unit in Manila for manufacturing of kitchen equipment for markets in Asia and the United States.

Middleby acquired the commercial cooking business of the Maytag Corporation in 2001 for $95 million. The purchase added the G.S. Blodgett, Pitco Frialator, and MagiKitch'n brands to Middleby's commercial appliance line

Middley purchased TurboChef in 2008 in a deal reported to be worth $200 million. It was reported by Bassoul that the purchase would strengthen the company's position as a leader in the food service equipment industry. Both companies were previously competitors in food service equipment for speed cooking pizza ovens.

In 2013, The Middleby Corporation purchased Viking Range for $380 million from investors Warren Stephens and Fred Carl, Jr.. Middleby announced that it would incorporate its technology into Viking equipment and increase residential sales, which were approximately 1% to 2% of the company's overall sales prior to the purchase. With the purchase, Viking factories remained open and Carl Jr. stayed on to run the Viking business. The acquisition was said to be the largest in the company's history.

In July 2015, Aga Rangemaster Group, the British manufacturer of cast-iron cooking ranges was acquired for £129m million.

Products and brands

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Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki  table code?	Responsive/ Mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
Float	"Col-float"	Yes	Yes	{{Col-float}}	{{Col-float-break}}	{{Col-float-end}}
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Columns	"Div col"	Yes	Yes	{{Div col}}	–	{{Div col end}}
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Residential

• Aga Rangemaster (acquired July 2015)
• Rayburn Range
• U-Line
• Viking

Former brands

• Victory Refrigeration: a former subsidiary and brand engaged in development of refrigeration technology; sold in 1996 to "an investor group led by local management" of the subsidiary.

Awards and recognition

Middleby has received awards and recognition, including numerous supplier awards. In 2013 it was recognized as the Supplier Partner of the Year by Brinker International, after installing approximately 1,200 ovens in the company's Chili's restaurants. It was recognized as one of the best stocks of the millennium by The Motley Fool and featured as a hot growth company in BusinessWeek.

Middleby has been on the Forbes' list of 200 Best Small Companies numerous times, including being listed as #12 in 2004, #10 in 2005, #9 in 2006, and continuing 9 consecutive years receiving recognition as #25 on the list in 2012. The United States Department of Commerce recognized Middleby in 1997 with the President's "E" Award. The award was given to a total of 11 firms in the United States for recognition of their success in exporting. It was recognized again for its exporting in 2001 as a recipient of the Governor's Export Award presented by then Illinois Governor George Ryan.

Middleby made the Crain's Chicago Business Fast 50 list in 2013, also being recognized on the list in 2007 and 2009. It received a NRA Kitchen Innovations Award in 2013 for its WOW! Ovens, currently in use by the top nine pizza chains. It was also featured in the 2011 book Innovating...Chicago-style: How Local Innovators Are Building the National Economy.

External links

• Middleby Corporation Homepage
• Middleby Brands
• Middleby UK Homepage