Arcelik Seals $300 Million Deal for Hitachi Electronics Business

(Bloomberg) -- Turkey’s leading household appliances maker Arcelik AS signed a deal to buy 60% of Hitachi Global Life Solutions Inc.’s for $300 million to deliver on its strategy to expand in emerging markets.

Arcelik and Hitachi GLS will form a new company that Arcelik will control to run operations in the home appliances market, excluding Japan, the Turkish company said in a filing to the stock exchange on Wednesday. The total transaction value is calculated on a cash-free and debt-free basis for the business, with the deal expected to be closed by April 1.

Arcelik’s shares rose as much as 1% at the start of trading in Istanbul but were down 0.4% at 31.20 liras as of 10:04 a.m. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Arcelik was in talks to buy Hitachi’s oversees home appliance business.

The transaction includes two subsidiaries of Hitachi GLS with manufacturing facilities in Thailand and China, and 10 sales companies in the region that mainly sell refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, rice cooker, water pumps and air conditioners. The annual production capacity of Thai and Chinese manufacturing firms is 3 million units of refrigerators and washing machines in total, according to the filing.

The consolidated net revenue of the acquired business, excluding Japan, was around $1 billion. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, was about $70 million for the fiscal year ending on March 31. After the transfer, the product range is expected to be expanded with dryers, dishwashers, ovens and other small household appliances.

Growth Push

Arcelik sells products under 12 brands including Beko, Flavel, Grundig and Altus, according to its website. It’s expanded through acquisitions over the years, purchasing companies including South Africa’s Defy Appliances Pty Ltd. and Pakistan’s Dawlance Group.

The Turkish company has singled out the Asia Pacific region as a key growth market and last year agreed to buy control of the company that operates the Singer brand in Bangladesh.

“Asia Pacific will be the accelerator of the growth in our sector in the next 10 years with its increasing medium-class population, household revenues and improving retail channels and life style,” Arcelik’s chief executive officer, Hakan Bulgurlu, said in an emailed statement.

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