Italian home-appliance fallen giant
Indesit became the latest Italian business icon to fall into
foreign hands Thursday after Whirlpool reached a deal with the
controlling Merloni family.
Foreign acquisitions have now totalled two billion euros in
2014 alone.
The American titans will acquire 60.4% of the Marche-based
company for 758 million euros.
This will give it 66.8% of voting rights and it will
subsequently launch an initial public offering for the rest.
Indesit, which makes Hotpoint and other top brands, has
been in trouble for several years and has been struggling to
avert massive layoffs over the past six months.
Its shares rose 3% on news of the deal.
Trades unions immediately called for a meeting to ensure
jobs would be safe under the new ownership.
The most leftwing labour group has been up in arms since a
deal was reached with more moderate unions to protect jobs at
the end of last year.
The FIOM-CGIL union slammed the agreement signed off by the
FIM, UILM and UGL unions as well as Italian local and central
governments to ward off 1,425 lay-offs and ensure 83 million
euros worth of investment.
In a statement, FIOM-CGIL called the deal "extremely
serious" and claimed its "compromises the future of workers
and throws a shadow on the role played by institutions in a
difficult dispute like this".
FIOM-CGIL objected in particular to the agreement to allow
Indesit to move clothes-washing machine production away from its
current location at the southern Italian city of Caserta, and
replace it with stove production taken from another Italian
plant located in Melano, east of Ancona.
The separate agreement for workers excluding those of
FIOM-CGIL "leaves all the problems raised in six months of
negotiations unresolved...the sale of the Indesit group, the
future of Italian manufacturing plants, the protection of
employment levels" the union said.
At the time, the Italian government expressed satisfaction
with the deal, highlighting included the company's vow to stop
redundancy proceedings and a commitment to not fire workers for
five years.
Instead the appliance company said it would reduce
production capacity using retirement schemes and
government-supported furlough measures.
Indesit also plans to relocate in Italy manufacturing
currently done in Spain, Poland and Turkey, as well as invest of
more than 80 million euros in Italian operations.
The government said the deal thus ensures that Indesit will
reinforce its medium- and high-end manufacturing in
Italy.
Indesit's original 70-million-euro restructuring plan
sought to keep only high-end appliance manufacturing in Italy,
and to concentrate low-cost appliance manufacturing in Poland
and Turkey.
Indesit joins a list of 'family jewels' sold to foreigners
including Bulgari, Krizia, Parmalat, cranemaker Fassi, Garofalo
pasta and Alitalia, which is just about to see Etihad Airlines
take a major stake.
Fiorucci hams, yacht-builder Ferretti and motorbike icon
Benelli have all turned Chinese.
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