German engineering group Robert Bosch is weighing a bid for US appliances manufacturer Whirlpool, according to three people familiar with the matter, a move that would boost its position in the household appliances market.

Bosch has been talking to potential advisers about the possibility of making an offer for Whirlpool, which has a market capitalisation of about $4.8 billion, one of the sources said.

The sources said it was not certain that an offer would be made and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

A Bosch spokesperson said the company does not comment on “market rumours”, while officials at Whirlpool were not immediately available for comment. The US company’s shares jumped 20 per cent in premarket trading after the Reuters report.

Buying one of the world’s biggest white goods manufacturers would significantly beef up Bosch’s home appliance business at a time competition with Asian rivals is growing.

Whirlpool has been undergoing a major restructuring in recent years, which has seen it fold its European business into a new company controlled by Turkish rival Arcelik and divest its West Asian and African businesses.

The potential takeover comes as Bosch, the world’s biggest automotive supplier, is looking at acquisitions to grow its unit that manufactures large home appliances.

A deal for Whirlpool, whose brands include Ariston, Hotpoint, Ignis and Privileg, would rank amongst the biggest disclosed deals for the German industrial group.

Reuters reported in March that Bosch was among the industrial firms competing to acquire heating and ventilation assets worth over $6 billion from Johnson Controls International in the US.

Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung told German business daily Handelsblatt in May that the company was looking at a few bigger acquisition targets, and that it did not rule out entering a new business area or a global deal.

He told reporters earlier in June that the group was open to listing some of its divisions on the stock market as it explores financing options for deals. He did not say which divisions.

Reuters