New step of Whirlpool towards the exit from Europe and beyond. The group leaves Russia and sells its assets to Arcelik. Whirlpool Emea “entered into a share purchase agreement with Arçelik to divest the company's Russian assets, including its manufacturing site in Lipetsk, Russia, and commercial operations located in Moscow, Russia, Kazakhstan and other countries CIS (the Confederation of former Soviet Union states, ed) neighbors”, is the official note with which the household appliance company announced that it had sold the assets in Russia.
Whirlpool leaves Russia, sells to Arcelik
The closing should be finalized in the third quarter of this year, "after having received the approvals required by current regulations". The American multinational has decided to carry out this operation "because of the current context in Russia, considering the agreement as the best solution for employees, shareholders and the business". So, officially, for reasons related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. After the confirmation of the sale, anticipated by the Bloomberg agency, Whirlpool reassured: "This transaction is not indicative of any specific result or future decision relating to the ongoing strategic review of the company's EMEA activity", in response to the concerns of the unions.
But Whirlpool's disengagement from Europe and Enea is a strategic review of the activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (ENEA) that the group announced in April after cutting its revenue and profit estimates on 2022.
Whirlpool, unions concerned about plants in Italy
The latest announcement feeds the concerns of the national secretariats of Fiom-Cgil, Fim-Cisl and Uilm-Uil "already considerably high about the possibility that Whirlpool wants to continue a gradual divestment of the group throughout the EMEA area (Europe, Middle East and Africa), preceded by the already unfortunate decision to close the Naples site and now motivated by the dramatic international context and the difficulties in sourcing raw materials". Whirlpool has former Indesit plants in the Marche region in Italy.
With these people at the diridence they can only sell..