Arçelik joins forces with Whirlpool to form a brand new home appliances business for Europe

Turkish manufacturer, Arçelik, has signed a contribution agreement with Whirlpool Corporation to form a new standalone European home appliance business, with expected combined sales of over €6 billion.

Arçelik is the parent company of Beko, but this new partnership will see its other wholly owned subsidiary Ardutch B.V. and Whirlpool EMEA Holdings LLC transfer their European subsidiaries to the new company – of which Arçelik will own 75 per cent and Whirlpool 25 per cent.

The newly-formed company will manufacture, sell and provide after-sales services for branded home appliances – including refrigerators, washing machines and vacuum cleaners – through Arçelik’s contribution of its MDA, SDA, consumer electronics, and air conditioning businesses, as well as Whirlpool’s European MDA business.

Products will be sold via a range of brands, such as Grundig, Flavel and Leisure, part of Arçelik, alongside Whirlpool’s existing brands of Indesit and Hotpoint, plus others. The new entity will have regional brand rights for the Beko and Blomberg brands (of Arçelik) and for the Whirlpool brand for a period of 40 years.

The business – which will have more than 20,000 employees – will have a combined production capacity of approximately 24 million appliance products per year, thanks to the shared functions across Whirlpool’s 38 European subsidiaries and nine production sites located in Italy, Poland, Slovakia and the UK, as well as Arçelik’s two production facilities in Romania and 25 European subsidiaries.

Both companies are expected to benefit from their “complementary” geographic coverage of sales channels and product portfolio, they said, as well as from synergies in their supply chains and distribution networks… “positioning the new company for growth”.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year and is subject to additional requirements for closing.

Sustainability will remain a key commitment for the new manufacturer, it said, helping to “provide European consumers with better access to high quality, energy-efficient and trusted lifestyle products and solutions”.

Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO of Arçelik, said this is “a unique opportunity for two exceptional companies to come together”.

“With today’s agreement, we are creating a strong foundation to drive value creation for employees, shareholders, and European consumers of white goods, extending Arçelik’s footprint with new growth opportunities in an important region,” he said.

Marc Bitzer, Chairman and CEO of Whirlpool Corporation, added: “This announcement marks yet another major and important milestone in our ongoing portfolio transformation. This allows us to participate in significant value creation from the repositioning of the business and cost synergies through our minority interest.”

Levent Çakıroğlu, CEO of Koç Holding (Arçelik’s parent company), said “the opportunity to deliver value to European consumers with market-leading products via trusted brands and a commitment to sustainability in the home is significant.”

Separately, the parties also signed an agreement for Whirlpool to divest its Middle East and North Africa portion of the EMEA region to Ardutch B.V. for €20 million.