“Ever since Europe’s markets opened up we’ve been here. In countries such as Romania and Bulgaria we’ve been smaller, we had no production, but we’ve been present. With the acquisition of Indesit, our focus will be on boosting our business on these markets as well. Moreover, we will also increase investments,” says the American executive.
Whirlpool entered Romania in the early ‘90s through an importer and in 1996 opened its legal office. In 2013, the last year for which there is public data, the company generated revenue worth 160 million lei (EUR36 million), up 4% from the previous year.
Through the acquisition of Indesit, revenue will reach EUR55-60 million, according to ZF estimates based on the latest data available.
In Romania, the Italian company did not register a legal entity and this is why Indesit’s local figures are not submitted to the Finance Ministry.
The local market is little developed, with Arctic, Philips, Electrolux and DeLonghi as the only major names manufacturing home appliances in Romania.
Whirlpool representatives do not specify whether they consider building a plant in Romania, stating there are already 43 production units in Europe and these are set to be consolidated in the following year (until 2Q, 2016).
“We acquired Indesit as it’s a complementary business,” said Whirlpool CEO.
With the acquisition, the company becomes leader on five of the seven most important markets in Europe.
Overall, Whirlpool head believes the group he runs will have a new record year despite external events.
Esther Berrozpe Galindo, Whirlpool president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says the East European region is now a challenging one amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but that the home appliances market will return into positive territory.
In Romania, sales of electrical home appliances reached over half a billion euros in 2014, according to market research company GfK. In Romania, no product category has a 100% penetration degree and this is the main reason why the electroIT in general and the home appliances one in particular are expected to grow.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)