The future of Whirlpool EMEA has been in doubt for months, and there was long speculation that the US home appliance maker would exit Europe, Middle East and Africa entirely, but the company has finally opted for a less radical solution in the form of a joint venture with arch-rival Arçelik, which is present in Europe primarily through its Beko brand.
The two firms have announced that they will transfer their European subsidiaries to a new entity to be called Beko Europe BV. Upon completion of this transaction, it is expected that 75% of the new company will be owned by Arçelik and 25% by Whirlpool. The business still needs to be approved by the responsible institutions, and the entire process of creating a new joint venture will take up to a year. Until then, the two companies will operate completely independently and without changes.
Market fears that the established and well-known Whirlpool brand could completely disappear from European stores in the event of the sale of Whirlpool EMEA will ultimately not come true. The newly formed company will have regional rights to both the Beko and Blomberg brands as well as the Whirlpool brand. And for 40 years. But he will also work with others such as Grundig, Hotpoint, Indesit and Bauknecht. The KitchenAid division is being spun off and will remain fully owned by Whirlpool.
Personnel issues and other specific steps regarding the structure and functioning of local offices are not yet known. However, the optimization and merger of branches in individual countries appear to be inevitable parts of the whole process. Both companies have so far refused to discuss the future structure in any way.

We are preparing a detailed analysis of what this change will mean for the home appliance market in Europe and here.