Appliance company in trouble

[arrrooohhh]

The Antonio Merloni company is in financial trouble. Love them or hate them it is a shame to see this happen. They manufacture the Servis machines that are popular in the UK.

Whitegoods empire on the brink of bankruptcy

By James Wells

FABRIANO, ITALY: Italian whitegoods manufacturer Antonio Merloni is on the brink of bankruptcy after applying for government protection by going into administration under a process know as the Marzano Law ?an equivalent to the US Chapter 11.

Antonio Merloni manufactures products under the Ardo, HomePub and Technogas brands, and also owns Asko Sweden.

In an internal company memo obtained by Current.com.au, titled ‘Antonio Merloni group management? the business admitted that it will be filing for the Italian version of Chapter 11 insolvency.

“We would like to inform you Antonio Merloni S.p.a. has filed for the admission to the benefits of the Extraordinary Administration Procedure (known as Marzano’s Law).

“In a few days, the application should be approved,?the letter said.

“The decision has been taken to allow the Group to perform its restructuring plan in a controlled environment, with maximum protection for all stakeholders.

“Concerning our relationship with your company, we can assure that the Group will run business as usual with on time deliveries, after sales service and full commercial support.?

On 1 September 2008 Antonio Merloni transferred capital stock to his daughter, Giovanna Merloni. Also announced on the same day was the appointment of newly appointed president, Giovanna Merloni who will serve with Flavio Pizzini and Luigi Viventi on an executive committee replacing the position of the CEO.

The Antonio Merloni business is not related to Merloni Elettrodomestici (now known as Indesit Company) owned by his brother Vittorio Merloni which has brands including Ariston, which is sold through Harvey Norman in Australia, as well as Hotpoint, Indesit and Scholtes.

Founded in 1975, Indesit Company is the second largest European white goods manufacturer in terms of market share and the fifth in the world, producing nearly 15 million appliances a year.


[Fri 17/10/2008 01:30:47]

http://www.current.com.au/news/article/HOAKMCVBMK

 

[dj-gabriele]

I wonder... will it merge in Indesit company after bankrupcy?

 

[robm]

Thanks for the link Ash.

I had a Servis washer dryer in 1999. It was about £329 and was quite well made for the money! It was unbelievably quiet and had a huge induction motor. It lasted about 7 years and my sister had it and really used it! Unfortunately the bearings let it down and it became noisy and the dial kept sticking. That said, when it did work well, it was stable and well made. It had a good enamel drum and was pretty heavy to move.

I'm surprised they survived then as they can't have been that cheap to manufacture. I know now they have got cheaper but like you I am sad to see them go.

I wonder what sort of affect the credit crunch is going to have on washing machine manufacture?

Rob

 

[ronhic]

Which! consumer magazine has recently upgraded the reliability rating of Servis machines to 'reliable' based on feedback from subscribers....

A shame they are in the position they are. If the quality of their appliances is improving, they deserve better...

On the other hand, the other Merlini - Indesit, Ariston et.al, are dreadful. They may clean ok, but their reliability is woeful...even Choice magazine here in Oz rates Ariston last..

 

[MrX]

Don't forget that Antonio Merloni also owns Asko.

I suspect what you'll see is Asko being sold off again, but to whom?

It's questionable whether Indesit would buy into Antonio Merloni, unless some sort of family loyalty issues kick in to play.

It's not a very good time for a large appliance manufacturer like Indesit to invest in more capacity. They're more than likely suffering from slowing sales, I'm sure every manufacturer is in this credit crunch market.

More expensive capacity in Italy isn't likely to be very attractive for either Indesit or the other bit Italian white goods manufacture, Candy.

In terms of Antonio Merloni's brands:

Servis - UK/Ireland only and of very little value as it's seen as a BOL brand.
Ardo - Italy only, might be worth something ? Seems more mid-range.
Asko - High end brand - might be very valuable, could be purchased by another appliance maker, possibly something that Indesit might step in and buy.

I'd suspect it might be cherry picked, and not rescued in full

 

[foraloysius]

Antonio Merloni sells it's machines under all kind of labels, but mainly they bought up older local/national brands that stopped making appliances themselves. That's how they penetrated the market with brands that were already known on that particular market.

These are their brands that I know of: Ardo, Nordland, Servis, Edy, EBD, EFS, Upo, Tecnogas, Baumatic, Elto, Bompani, BlÜcher, Eurotech, Clatronic, Novomatic, Philco, Selectro

 

[favorit]

update - 1200 jobs are under threat ...

...since this morning @ the two plants in Fabriano.
Demand has strongly decreased, despite the fact of being just before Xmas (typical hi-dem time). Some big orders have been deleted in last days ... so now a thousand-two-hundred families rely on welfare (integration fund).

It is sad to say, but it was predictable. Such low quality appliances (they are even lower than Indesit) are now available @ cheaper prices from far Eastern Countries producers.

IAR-SILTAL, another co. producing same target appliances went into the same mistake some years ago. So, when big stores (like french Carrefour) started buying @ far East, they started closing plants :-(

http://ilrestodelcarlino.ilsole24ore.com/ancona/2008/11/29/135983-antonio_merloni_lunedi.shtml