NEWS | Round-up
Whirlpool and Arçelik to create new European appliance business
TWO OF Europe’s biggest home appliance companies, Whirlpool and Arçelik, have signed an agreement to launch a new standalone
European appliance business. The deal will see both Whirlpool and
Arçelik’s subsidiary Ardutch, transfer their European subsidiaries to the newly formed entity. With the com - bined forces of both brands’ manu- facturing, supply chain, distribution and sales network, the new company will arguably become the biggest appliance supplier in Europe and will likely hold a lion’s share of the market in terms of volume. The new company, which is yet to be given a name, will have exclusive manufacturing and distribution of the majority of Whirlpool and Arçelik’s leading brands, including Hotpoint, Indesit, Beko and Whirlpool (under licence). Arçelik will own 75% of the new entity and Whirlpool 25%. The deal is not expected to close until the second half of 2023 and according to a Whirlpool spokesman, “it is business as usual, and the two companies will operate as separate entities and competitors” until the transaction is complete.
The full list of brands that will be involved in the new company will include Arçelik’s Grundig, Arctic, Elektrabregenz, Flavel, and Leisure brands, plus
Whirlpool’s existing
brands of Indesit, Hotpoint, Ignis, Privileg, and Bauknecht. Although it will not own them, the new entity will have regional rights over Arçelik’s Beko, Blomberg and Altus as well as the Whirlpool brand for 40 years.
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L-R: Fatih Kemal Ebiçlioglu, consumer durables group president of Arçelik’s parent Koç Holding, Whirlpool CEO Mark Bitzer, and Hakan Bulgurlu, Arçelik CEO
Whirlpool Corporation will retain full ownership of its small domestic appliance business KitchenAid, which will not be part of the new business. The new company will have pro - duction capacity of approximately 24 million products per year. It will include Whirlpool’s 38 European subsidiaries and nine production sites located in Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and the UK, as well as Arçelik’s two sites in Romania and 25 European subsidiaries. A Whirlpool spokesman told kbbreview: “We are pleased to have announced an agreement with Arçelik to contribute our European major domestic appliance business into a newly formed European appliance company, of which Whirlpool will own 25% and Arçelik 75%. With an expected combined sales of over €6 (£5.32) billion, the combined
Gas stoves linked to childhood asthma cases
FUMES GIVEN off by gas stoves have been identified as the cause of one in eight cases of childhood asthma in the USA, says new research by Harvard Medical School.
Around five million children in the USA have asthma and the new report suggests that 650,000 of those could be triggered by the gas stoves. From 2025, new-build properties in the UK will no longer be provided with a gas supply, while over in the USA, the federal government has not made a commitment either way so far, but certain states and cities already have bans in place.
Around a third of US households 4
use gas stoves, while in the UK that amount is much higher. Although there has been a fall in the popularity of gas ovens in the UK from 50% in 2005 to 38% in 2017, according to Statista, BEIS says that gas hob ownership in the UK was around 60% in 2020. During cooking gas stoves give off nitrogen dioxide, which is a known lung irritant. A report by US energy practices institute, the RMI, found that cooking and baking give off “high concentrations of nitrogen dioxide”. The Harvard Medical School also
found that emissions occur even when appliances are turned off, creating indoor air pollutant levels that are several times worse than pollution
experienced outdoors from car traffic and heavy industry. Richard Trumka, a commissioner at the US consumer
product safety
commission, said: “We need to be talking about regulating gas stoves, whether that’s drastically improving emissions or banning gas stoves entirely. And I think we ought to keep that possibility of a ban in mind.”
The Harvard Medical School has made some suggestions of things that people can do to lower the risk in their homes. The first is having good ventilation by opening windows during cooking and using fans and extractors to move the air out of the kitchen. Using air purifiers can also improve air quality overall, especially if they have a high clean air delivery rate (CADR).
· February 2023
businesses are expected to save €200 million as cost synergies through the merger.
“The new company will have approximately €6 billion in annual sales and bring together the best of the two complementary companies to deliver value to consumers through attractive brands, sustainable manufacturing, product innovation, and consumer services. Importantly, the announce- ment not only marks the conclusion of our strategic review of our EMEA business, but also a significant acceleration of our ongoing portfolio transformation of focusing on high- growth, high-margin businesses.” In
the announcement statement,
Marc Bitzer, chairman and chief exec- utive of Whirlpool Corporation, said: “Today’s 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.” Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO of Arçelik, said: “This is a unique opportunity for two exceptional companies to come together with a focus on synergies, combined innovation, retail distribution, and sustainability and is consistent with our strategy. With today’s agreement, we are creating a strong foundation to drive value creation for employees, shareholders, and European consumers of white goods, exten ding Arçelik’s footprint with new growth opportunities in an important region.” In August 2022, Whirlpool sold its Russian business to Arçelik for €260m of deferred payments. That will not be part of the new deal.
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