** Whirlpool WHR.N shares down 0.6% at $71.26 premarket after home appliance maker's above-target raise
** Co early Weds announces pricing public offerings of ~6.9 mln shares at $69 for $475 mln raise and
$525 mln 8.5% 3-yr mandatory convertible preferred stock
** In addition, co says sold $30 mln worth of shares at $69 in private placement to Guangdong Whirlpool Electrical Appliances Co., a subsidiary of Shanghai-listed Whirlpool China 600983.SS
** WHR shares tumbled ~14% to close at $71.67 on Tues after co launched concurrent $800 mln offerings to repay debt and for general purposes, including strategic investments in automation
** Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, and Citigroup lead bookrunners for offering
** Through Tues, WHR shares down 0.7% YTD and ~36% below intraday 52-week high of $111.96 hit in early Jul
** Avg rating of 10 analysts is "hold"; median PT $79.50, per LSEG data
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))