The world's' biggest home appliance company has made an approach to buy cooker maker Aga Rangemaster.
Whirlpool Corporation, based in Michigan in the United States, is weighing up a cash offer for the British business.
Aga recently said it had seen sales rise as its customers felt more confident following the Conservative party winning an outright majority in the UK general election in May.
Aga, which makes cookers that cost around £7,000, had this summer accepted a £129 million offer from US firm Middleby saying it could benefit from that company's distribution network.
The was due to be approved by shareholders on September 8.
Aga, which traces its history back to 1939, has opened its books to Whirlpool but continues to recommend the Middleby proposal which valued the business at 185 pence per share.
Aga said it could adjourn a meeting to sanction the Middleby takeover if it received an offer from Whirlpool which it could recommend to shareholders.
But it added: "The making of a firm offer by Whirlpool remains subject to a number of conditions and there is no certainty that any offer will be forthcoming or as to the terms of any offer.
"Given the conditionality of the Whirlpool offer, the board of AGA believes it is in the best interests of AGA shareholders, taken as a whole, to ensure that the Middleby transaction continues to be executed on the current timetable to avoid any delay to completion of that transaction should a firm offer from Whirlpool not be forthcoming."
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