Michigan-based Whirlpool has entered into an agreement to buy a controlling stake in an Italian appliance maker.
Whirlpool is expected to spend $1 billion to purchase more than two-thirds of the voting stock of Indesit, the company announced last night. The Italian based company employs 16,000 people. It sells appliances mostly in Western Europe under the name brands of Indesit, Hotpoint and Scholtès.
Whirlpool is already the world’s largest appliance maker, with sales last year near $19 billion. Whirlpool employs 69,000 people worldwide.
If the deal is approved by regulators, it would be Whirlpool’s largest acquisition since it took over the company’s former competitor Maytag in 2006.
Company officials hope the Indesit deal will help grow Whirlpool’s European business.
