Arçelik.. Turkish White Goods Giant acquires South African Giant
Levent Çakıroğlu, chief executive responisble of durable goods at Koç Holding says Defy’s expansion platform will help Arçelik grow in African markets.
Arçelik, a leading manufacturer of white appliances in Turkey, has signed an agreement to acquire South Africa’s Defy Appliances for $324 million, the company announced Thursday on the Istanbul bourse’s website.
Arçelik has agreed with Franke Holding, which owns 100 percent of Defy’s shares, for its Dutch subsidiary Ardutch to acquire Defy.
The company, a leading global actor in white appliances with its high-quality and advanced-technology goods, as well as its rich brand portfolio, aims to expand its international presence both through branding and production,” said Levent Çakıroğlu, Koç Holding’s chairman for the Durable Consumption Group.
The group sees Defy as a “power” that will support production, sales and technology accumulation in the region, he added.
Defy is a sector leader in South Africa as well as five other countries that are members of the South African customs union. Its annual net revenues for 2010 were about $345 million, and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, totaled $43 million last year, according to Arçelik’s statement on the bourse website.
The transaction is expected to be finalized in September.
“Arçelik will thus get the chance to expand in South Africa and sub-Saharan African countries through Defy’s expansion platform,” Çakıroğlu said. Technology and the ability to properly analyze consumer needs and expectations lie behind Arçelik’s strength and success, he added.
“This investment is an important step, which goes parallel with Arçelik’s and [its parent company] Koç Group’s expansion plans,” said Mustafa Koç, the chairman of Koç Holding’s Executive Board. He also said the holding would continue to support Arçelik’s quest to grow globally through other acquisitions.
Defy has been in the sector since 1932 and was the first to produce electric furnaces in the country. It owns three facilities and produces a wide range of goods, such as refrigerators, chimney hoods, ovens, dish washers, washing machines, microwave ovens and gas furnaces.
Standard Ünlü was the consulting firm that assisted Arçelik in finalizing Defy’s acquisition. “With this acquisition, we have mediated the eighth large transaction [since the beginning of the year]. We are proud that we have played a role in another Turkish firm’s investment abroad, after [food giant] Ülker’s acquisition of [global chocolate maker] Godiva, for $850 million,” Mahmut Ünlü, the consultancy’s chief executive officer, said in a statement Thursday.
Ünlü has mediated for other important acquisitions, such as Ülker Golf, Doğa Koleji, Tiglon-Fida Film, Şok market, as well as in the privatization of Istanbul Fast Ferries, or İDO.
July 21, 2011
SOURCE: Hürriyet Daily News
