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Employees work on the production line of Whirlpool in Hefei, Anhui province. [Photo/Xinhua] Home appliance manufacturer Galanz Group's acquisition of the Chinese
unit of United States' white goods maker Whirlpool will help it to
diversify its business, a top company official said. "Growth, no matter what happens, along with high-quality development,
will be our core strategy this year," said Liang Zhaoxian, chairman of
Galanz, during the company's annual meeting on Sunday. After over 200 days of antimonopoly investigation by authorities in
the United States, China, Brazil, Germany, Turkey, Austria and Colombia,
Galanz was given the go-ahead for the acquisition deal, according to
Liang. "The approval means all shareholders of Whirlpool China can sell
their shares to Galanz. It would be a historical milestone for us," said
Liang. Last August, the Chinese firm said that it would accept no less than
51 percent of Whirlpool China's equity and a maximum of 61 percent,
according to Liang. "Galanz will focus on upgrading technology, brand and supply chains
for business growth this year. The acquisition of Whirlpool China is
part of our strategy to help diversify brands and promote sustainable
business growth," said Liang. The acquisition, which is equal to 2.46 billion yuan ($370 million),
will start on Wednesday and end on April 29. Whirlpool China's stock
price was down 6.48 percent at 7.65 yuan per share on Tuesday. "It was not simply a cooperation between a Chinese company and a
Fortune Global 500 company－Chinese home appliance makers will be more
competitive in the global market as they have now developed core
technologies in the self-innovative industrial chain," said Liang. According to Liang, Galanz plans to build two purchasing technology
quality control centers in South China and East China in the near
future. "We will build a new market, bring in advanced technology, products
and services to consumers in China, as well as the world," said Liang. Galanz, which is Whirlpool's third-largest global supplier, intends
to help Whirlpool China to improve management efficiency, enhance
profitability and ensure stable development, said Liang Huiqiang,
vice-chairman of Galanz. After acquiring a combined majority stake in Japanese kitchen
appliance maker Zojirushi in January last year, Galanz has been vying
for more brands to diversify its business. Teaming up with Whirlpool and Zojirushi will help Galanz to enter a
rapid business expansion in the near future, according to Liang. "Having multiple brands and diversified businesses is the future development trend for various consumer groups," said Liang. The Guangdong-based company has been looking for more than 10,000
workers to boost its production capacity this year, due to increased
orders from overseas buyers. After posting a 212 percent year-on-year growth in sales last year,
the company is expecting overseas orders to rise by 90 percent on a
yearly basis during the first quarter of this year, according to Liang. "The production capacity of refrigerators will increase by more than 80 percent this year," said Liang.
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