Hong Kong firm sucks up Hoover

The Hoover was invented by Murray Spangler in 1907

US home appliance company Whirlpool has agreed to sell the iconic Hoover vacuum cleaner business to Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries for $107m (£54m).

Whirlpool has been looking to sell Hoover for months since acquiring the brand when it bought rival Maytag earlier this year.

Hoover makes a range of floor-cleaning equipment, but has struggled to compete with rivals Dyson and Oreck.

The deal is expected to close by the third quarter of 2007.

Soap box and broom handle

The first Hoover vacuum was made by asthmatic department store janitor Murray Spangler, who came up with the device when dust raised from his broom aggravated his condition.

After constructing the device using a tin soap box, a fan, a sateen pillowcase and a broom handle, he sold the patent to a leather goods manufacturer, WH Hoover.

The Hoover family owned the company until it became publicly traded in 1943. Maytag acquired the company in 1989.

It was acquired by Whirlpool in a $1.7bn deal earlier this year.

In Europe, the Hoover brand is owned by a separate company, Hoover Candy Group, which has no connection with Whirlpool.