Middleby extends offer to buy TurboChef

TurboChef Technologies Inc., the maker of fast-cooking commercial convection ovens, surged as much as 39 percent in U.S. trading after the Middleby Corp. extended its deadline to buy the company to Jan. 7.

TurboChef increased 47 cents, or 26 percent, to $2.28 at 10:48 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading after reaching $2.52 for the steepest intraday gain since September 2003. Atlanta-based TurboChef lost 89 percent of its market value this year before today.

Middleby, the Elgin, Illinois-based maker of Toastmaster toasters and Southbend ranges, rose $3.35, or 14 percent, to $28.15 in Nasdaq trading.