Both parties had previously signed a letter of intent and were participating in active negotiations toward a merger agreement. Since the merger was subject to approval of the Maytronics’ shareholders, Maytronics solicited the early opinion of its major shareholder, Kibbutz Yizrael-Workers Group for Cooperative Settlement Ltd., which holds a majority of the Maytronics voting power. However, the merger proposal was voted down by the general membership of Kibbutz Yizrael.
Robert Davis, president and CEO of Hayward, said, “We are disappointed in the outcome of our discussions with Maytronics, as the merger would have been highly complementary and synergistic to both companies, offering our collective customers greater choice and value.”
