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ROME, May 1 (Reuters) – Italy’s government on Monday conditionally approved Whirlpool’s sale of a majority stake of its European domestic appliances business to Turkish rival Arcelik, a ministerial source said.
The Europe-wide deal, announced in January, concerns four Whirlpool factories in Italy employing around 4,600 people.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government had the right to scrutinise it under so-called Italian “golden power” rules designed to safeguard industries deemed of national interest.
In a decree approved in a cabinet meeting, Meloni’s government green-lighted the deal subject to provisions against plant closures and job cuts and protecting local technological know-how, the ministerial source said.
In January, Whirlpool said it would transfer its European major domestic appliance business into a new company in which Arcelik will have a 75% stake and the U.S. group will retain the remaining 25%.
At the time, Whirlpool said it expected the transaction to close in the second half of the year, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. (Reporting by Alvise Armellini and Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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