The announcement was expected, Midea Italy, which had been looking for a second brand for some time to be able to enter the retail channel of consumer electronics and household appliances chains and groups with large appliances, has acquired the license to use the historic Ocean brand.
Ocean, founded in 1947 (from the book "From the electric house to the electronic house" of which Paola Guidi is co-author) by the Nocivelli Brothers for the production of fridges and freezers also as subcontractors, gave rise with successive acquisitions to fourth European producer of white from the golden years of the Majaps made in Italy. The company name from Ocean it had become Brandt-Moulinex then declared bankrupt in 2002 thanks also to special "contributions" from the French cousins.
In the 80s and 90s the Nocivelli company had absorbed numerous Italian companies such as Samet and Sangiorgio and even the Veneta Cucine, then Bloomberg-Elektra Bregenz, Brandt (French giant) and Moulinex. In addition to counting on a gigantic Polish industrial pole, Polar, which, after the dismemberment of the group, was taken over by Whirlpool.
The French morsel proved to be indigestible and indeed poisoned. Of that very stormy and still unclear period (there was certainly a French maneuver against "les italiens" who had "dared" to buy the decotte French companies). From the failure that led the Ocean brand to navigate in uncertain waters (despite cold and super cold technologies among the best in the world) the brand had landed at the Ocean Group of Varese, and of which Bruno Sgarbi is general manager.
Midea Italia can now count not only on its own consolidated corporate brand operating only in the professional air treatment channel, but also on a brand still known in the retail sector such as Ocean to stock and sell Midea's large household appliances in massive quantities.
As this blog preview wrote recently, Midea has acquired the Majap sector of the prestigious Toshiba which also sold the consumer electronics business to the Turkish Vestel.
Midea therefore has three brands -for the moment-: Midea, Toshiba and Ocean. We will soon see additions to the series of washing machines, fridges, freezers already present in stores and the appliances of these new brands. And with a sensational debut at Eurocucina: the Midea collection.
Not without mentioning that Midea recently declared itself very interested in acquiring the European branch of the giant Whirlpool: Whirlpool Emea. An operation justified by several factors: the financial strength of the Chinese full of profits and forced to invest and buy prestigious brands and the need for Whirlpool to protect its native market - the Americas - from the dumping of Samsung and LG, recognized by the commission Use of competition control, as really existing in the rich washing market.
SOURCE: Paula's house
