[Global Network Science and Technology Reporter Fan Junqing] According to Business Review, following the official approval of the Slovenian regulatory authorities last month for the acquisition of Slovenian white goods manufacturer Gorenje by Hisense Group, the leading brand of China household appliances, the acquisition plan was approved by the European Commission yesterday. The merger of these two home appliance manufacturers will effectively promote the globalization of Hisense Group.
The European Commission announced on the 7th that after a comprehensive investigation, the EU believed that Hisense’s acquisition of Gorenje did not violate any international laws and regulations, would not constitute an industry monopoly, and would not lead to vicious competition in the industry. Therefore, the European Commission announced its approval of the acquisition.
According to the information released by the Slovenian securities market organization ATVP earlier, this time Hisense successfully acquired 95.42% of Gorenje’s shares.
Founded in 1950, Gorenje has 11,000 employees. As the backbone of the European household appliance manufacturing industry, Gorenje has strong strength in products such as kitchen appliances and washing machines, high brand awareness and a complete sales system in Europe.
In recent years, in the face of increasing market competition pressure, Gorenje’s product sales began to decline to varying degrees. In 2017 alone, the company’s net profit fell by 84%, and it once faced a serious survival crisis. Under such circumstances, Gorenje began to look for strategic partners. Once the news was announced, three China companies, Hisense, Haier and Hefei Meiling, also extended olive branches to Gorenje.
In May this year, Hisense formally submitted its acquisition intention and was willing to launch the acquisition at a price of 12 euros per share. This is another cross-border acquisition after Hisense hosted Sharp’s North American business in 2015 and acquired Toshiba TV in Japan in 2017. The acquisition was officially approved by Slovenia’s national regulatory authorities in July.
Hisense Group, founded in 1969, has two listed companies and several black and white electric brands such as Hisense, Toshiba, Kelon and Ronshen. In 2017, the operating income was 12.7 billion euros, of which the income from white goods business was about 5.5 billion euros. Hisense Group’s current business covers multimedia, home appliances, IT information services and other fields. Among them, Hisense TV ranked first in the TV market in China for 14 consecutive years and ranked third in the world in 2016. Refrigerators ranked second in China market, air conditioners ranked fourth, and commercial air conditioners ranked second in China market. In addition to the China market, Hisense TV has the largest sales share in Australia and South Africa, among which the South African market Hisense refrigerator ranks first in the industry with a market share of 24.6%.
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