aquacycle
Well-known member
I don't think this has been posted here yet:
Whirlpool has bought a controlling stake in white goods maker Indesit, the latest example of a prominent Italian industrial family selling up as Italy’s decade-long economic decline takes its toll.
Whirlpool of the US beat offers from Turkish and Chinese investors to take a 60 per cent stake in the company, known for its Indesit, Hotpoint and Scholtes brand, for €758m.
It marks the exit of Indesit’s founding Merloni family – one of Italy’s most prominent industrial dynasties – and comes after sales plunged during the eurozone crisis and a deep recession in Italy.
The sale is the latest foreign takeover among Italy’s best known brands. Luxury groups Loro Piana, Bulgari, Valentino, Brioni, Poltrona Frau and Pomellato and consumer groups Parmalat, Ducati, Marazzi and Bertolli have been sold in the past five years.
Bankers say more deals are in the pipeline as foreign buyers, from the US to China, see an opportunity to pick up strong brands from mostly family-owned businesses where entrepreneurs are often struggling with succession issues, the pressure of globalisation and cash-strapped Italian consumers buying less.
Coldiretti, an Italian business lobby, estimated that, in 2014, about €2bn of acquisitions had been made, mostly of small and midsized consumer goods groups in food, fashion and machinery.
“The deal announced today is aimed at providing Indesit with all the means necessary for it to create a solid and sustainable future,” said Gian Oddone Merli, chief executive of Fineldo, the Merloni family’s holding company.
Indesit was founded in the 1930s by Aristide Merloni, a small town entrepreneur from the Marche region in central Italy. In the postwar years, his son Vittorio expanded the group internationally, becoming a world leader in washing machines, fridges and dishwashers and competing with Bosch and Electrolux.
However, in the past decade, Indesit has struggled with the rise of cheaper manufacturers from China and succession of its third generation after the retirement of Mr Merloni, who is in his 80s. It hired Goldman Sachs this year to look for buyers.
Whirlpool, the world’s largest appliance maker, said it would use the deal “to position our European business for growth and ongoing value creation” as it seeks to expand further beyond its home market. The deal must clear a number of regulatory and antitrust reviews before closing.
Giuseppe di Taranto, a professor at Luiss university in Rome, said Italy’s weak economy could be largely blamed for Italian companies being the acquired rather than the acquirer.
“The result of the crisis is that companies from richer countries are shopping in poorer countries, and Italy is one of those poorer countries,” he said.
Italy’s economy shrank 0.1 per cent in the first quarter after emerging from a two-year recession at the end of last year. Recent weak data has added to concerns that the economy might have shrunk or shown only feeble growth in the second quarter.
www.ft.com
Whirlpool has bought a controlling stake in white goods maker Indesit, the latest example of a prominent Italian industrial family selling up as Italy’s decade-long economic decline takes its toll.
Whirlpool of the US beat offers from Turkish and Chinese investors to take a 60 per cent stake in the company, known for its Indesit, Hotpoint and Scholtes brand, for €758m.
It marks the exit of Indesit’s founding Merloni family – one of Italy’s most prominent industrial dynasties – and comes after sales plunged during the eurozone crisis and a deep recession in Italy.
The sale is the latest foreign takeover among Italy’s best known brands. Luxury groups Loro Piana, Bulgari, Valentino, Brioni, Poltrona Frau and Pomellato and consumer groups Parmalat, Ducati, Marazzi and Bertolli have been sold in the past five years.
Bankers say more deals are in the pipeline as foreign buyers, from the US to China, see an opportunity to pick up strong brands from mostly family-owned businesses where entrepreneurs are often struggling with succession issues, the pressure of globalisation and cash-strapped Italian consumers buying less.
Coldiretti, an Italian business lobby, estimated that, in 2014, about €2bn of acquisitions had been made, mostly of small and midsized consumer goods groups in food, fashion and machinery.
“The deal announced today is aimed at providing Indesit with all the means necessary for it to create a solid and sustainable future,” said Gian Oddone Merli, chief executive of Fineldo, the Merloni family’s holding company.
Indesit was founded in the 1930s by Aristide Merloni, a small town entrepreneur from the Marche region in central Italy. In the postwar years, his son Vittorio expanded the group internationally, becoming a world leader in washing machines, fridges and dishwashers and competing with Bosch and Electrolux.
However, in the past decade, Indesit has struggled with the rise of cheaper manufacturers from China and succession of its third generation after the retirement of Mr Merloni, who is in his 80s. It hired Goldman Sachs this year to look for buyers.
Whirlpool, the world’s largest appliance maker, said it would use the deal “to position our European business for growth and ongoing value creation” as it seeks to expand further beyond its home market. The deal must clear a number of regulatory and antitrust reviews before closing.
Giuseppe di Taranto, a professor at Luiss university in Rome, said Italy’s weak economy could be largely blamed for Italian companies being the acquired rather than the acquirer.
“The result of the crisis is that companies from richer countries are shopping in poorer countries, and Italy is one of those poorer countries,” he said.
Italy’s economy shrank 0.1 per cent in the first quarter after emerging from a two-year recession at the end of last year. Recent weak data has added to concerns that the economy might have shrunk or shown only feeble growth in the second quarter.
( even though i Dislike Dual branding, it seemed fitting)
