DETROIT -- Whirlpool Corp. said Wednesday that it had sold a number of properties belonging to Maytag Corp., including most of its former rival's headquarters complex in Newton, Iowa.

Whirlpool in a news release said it also had sold former Maytag manufacturing sites in Galesburg and Herrin, Ill.; Searcy, Ark.; Ranson, W.Va.; and Florence, S.C. Spokeswoman Monica Teague said the company would not release financial terms, but the Benton Harbor, Mich.-based appliance maker said the transactions were orchestrated with input from business and community leaders to facilitate each property's redevelopment.

"We believe that the sale of these properties and the resulting future reuse and redevelopment is another important step forward in the ongoing transition of each of the communities," David L. Swift, Whirlpool North America president, said in a statement.

Whirlpool acquired Maytag on March 31. It later announced the elimination of 4,500 jobs by closing Maytag laundry washer and dryer plants in Herrin, Newton and Searcy and by consolidating corporate offices and other sites, although it said it eventually planned to create 1,500 new jobs at Whirlpool plants in Ohio. It also announced the closure of Maytag's corporate headquarters and research center in Newton and administrative offices in Schaumburg, Ill., Canada and Mexico.

Some of the former Maytag headquarters property will be transferred to the Des Moines Area Community College for use as a regional vocational training center, while Whirlpool will have the option to sell a vacant Newton plant to the Newton-based Jasper Community Foundation, with plans calling for the buildings to be demolished to make way for green space.

The deal covers about 15 buildings, Teague said. A product development building and the Maytag Guest House will also be transferred to the foundation to support long-term economic development strategies in Newton, the company said.

Meanwhile, the company said it sold manufacturing sites in Illinois, Searcy, Ranson and Newton as a package to Industrial Realty Group of Los Angeles, an adaptive reuse firm. It sold the Florence manufacturing facility to the Los Angeles investment firm Hackman Capital Partners, LLC.

Whirlpool said it will lease back some of the Newton headquarters facility and the Herrin and Searcy plants for all or part of 2007 for various functions. The company plans to lease back the Newton plant and adjacent manufacturing support facilities through February 2008 for cleanup while continuing to operate one of the adjacent plants for up to five years to produce spare parts.

Whirlpool in December announced plans to sell the Hoover vacuum business to a Hong Kong home improvement and construction tools supplier for $107 million. It has also sold the Dixie-Narco vending systems and the Amana commercial microwave business.

Shares of Whirlpool rose $1.64, or 2 percent, to $84.66, in regular trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.