It's pretty much "one big Happy(?)"
now.
Or almost Biblical
Whirlpool and Sears begat Kenmore.
Whirlpool bought Roper.
Whirlpool bought Estate.
Canadian Whirlpool for many years was called Inglis. Inglis is a bargan Whirlpool line at Best Buy now.
Whirlpool bought KitchenAid from Hobart. (back around 1980).
And just recently, Whirlpool did buy Maytag.
Maytag washers had declined in quality. I think my 1997 LAT9806 was one of the last really good Maytag washers.
This is a very familiar, and somewhat touchy, subject here.
When I think about what happened with Maytag, it makes me sad and sick. No, not the Whirlpool buyout, though that is distressing. I mean the cheapening of build quality, the rush of not-throughly-tested products to the market...Neptune laundry, and Accellis cooking to name but two. And then, the less said about the Hoover USA fiasco, the better.
Of course, this is just my opinion, and your milage may vary.
Lawrence/MAYTAGbear