The parent company intends to move from 75 to 51% of Whirlpool of India which is suffering from competition from LG and other brands in the Indian market Whirlpool corporation has announced its intention to reduce its stake in Whirlpool of India, the publicly listed subsidiary created for the Indian market, from 75 to 51%. It is not yet known whether Whirlpool intends to place the shares on the stock exchange (where the stock fell 8% on the announcement) or sell them to one or more over-the-counter operators. The objective of the operation which will take place next year is to reduce Whirlpool’s overall debt and its capital base (a strategy which also explains the sale of Whirlpool EMEA to Arçelik ). The operation will start in 2024 because by the end of 2023 Whirlpool of India will have to repay a loan of 500 million to the parent company.
Despite the excellent performance of the Indian economy, Whirlpool of India (which recently purchased Elica’s assets in India) is suffering from intensified competition especially from LG and in the last quarter recorded a 23% drop in profits.