Indesit sold to Whirlpool

(ANSA) - Rome, July 11 - 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.