English Antitrust yesterday published the list of issues it intends to evaluate to give the green light to the merger of a large part of # whirlpool ‘s European activities with those of arçelik in beko europe . Two weeks of fire began for the corporate affairs teams of Whirlpool Corporation , led in Europe by Maurizio David Sberna and of Arçelik Global . They have until November 21st to demonstrate to the Competition and Markets Authority that the operation would not significantly reduce the competitive framework in the medium-low range of the washing and cooking categories. Whirlpool’s key argument is “if the merger doesn’t happen we would leave the market and competition would be reduced anyway”. Arçelik seems to understand from the statements of its CEO Hakan Bulgurlu that “the crisis phase of the sector is not short-term” and rationalization therefore appears to be the only way to transfer value to consumers.
Tag Archives: Antitrust
EU antitrust approves Whirlpool-Arçelik merger
The European Antitrust has approved the merger of Whirlpool ‘s activities in Europe with those of Arçelik into Beko Europe . European Commission officials believe that the union of the former Whirlpool EMEA brands with Turkish ones does not lead to dominant positions.
The start of the operation announced in January 2023, however, must wait until the spring of 2024 when the English Antitrust Authority will complete its in-depth investigation having detected in an initial analysis the risk of a significant reduction in competition, especially in some areas of the market .
Whirlpool confident of a ‘green light’ also from London
Hailing the EU Commission’s decision, Whirlpool said it was confident that the CMA, at the end of the investigation, would also agree with the assessments expressed at the European level. However, the operation will be carried out, at worst, giving up access to the English market for some brandsThe Whirlpool-Arçelik operation in brief
Subject of the agreement: The agreement includes Whirlpool’s 38 European subsidiaries and 9 production sites in Italy, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, as well as Arçelik’s 2 production plants in Romania and its 25 European subsidiaries. Together, this will result in a production capacity of approximately 24 million white products per year.
Contractors . Shareholders of the new company are Whirlpool Emea Holdings LLC and Ardutch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arçelik, a Dutch holding company through which Arçelik controls its activities in Europe. The deal will see both Ardutch and Whirlpool transfer their European subsidiaries to new Chinese company Beko Europe.
Subdivision of shares. After these transfers, it is expected that 75% of the new company will be allocated to Ardutch BV and 25% to Whirlpool. The final post-closing ownership ratio will be determined taking into account the parties’ respective 2022 EBITDA, net asset values, net debt and net working capital.
Arçelik-Whirlpool Antitrust continues the investigation until March 2024
The Competition and Market Authority has decided to move to phase 2 of the authorization process for the merger between the European operations of Arçelik and Whirlpool .
The CMA has officially announced the launch of an in-depth analysis which will end on 26 March 2024 to assess whether the project could create a “substantial reduction of competition in any market within the United Kingdom”.
The CMA has appointed a commission of external experts (lawyers, former merchant bankers and researchers). The start of the operation announced at the beginning of the year has therefore been moved to at least mid-2024.
The attention of the top management of the two companies as well as of governments, unions and operators therefore shifts to the European Antitrust which should make a decision by 23 Octobe
Arçelik-Whirlpool, the EU will decide by October 23rd
The agreement which provides for the sale of the Whirlpool and Beko activities in Europe to a new company largely owned by Arçelik was officially included in the protocol of the Competition DG on 18 September with number M11086. The European Antitrust will make its decision by October 23rd.Commission offices could ask for a supplementary investigation, as was done for example by the English Antitrust.
Last Monday (18 September) EU Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni received the CEO of Arçelik and president of Applia Europe Hakan Bulgurlu .
On Monday 25th in Rome, Whirlpool’s top management will meet the Italian unions to discuss the results of the first half of the year and the prospects for the workers of Whirlpool’s four Italian factories.
Bulgaria Antitrust fines Miele for RPM
Bulgaria’s antitrust watchdog has ordered the local subsidiary of German domestic appliance maker Miele to pay a €820,000 fine for breaching resale price maintenance laws
WHITEGOODSNOW 