Arçelik partners up with India's Tata Group

A partnership agreement was signed between Arçelik A.Ş. and Voltas operating under the Tata Group, one of India's best-known companies, to establish a company that will run manufacturing and sales operations in India.

Arçelik's subsidiary, Ardutch BV, and Voltas will each have a 49-percent stake in the new company, which will be established with a capital of $100 million, while Koç Holding and Tata Investment Corporation Ltd will take part in the partnership with a 1-percent share each.

The joint company, which will combine Arçelik's competence in production technology and experience with the strong distribution network of Voltas in the Indian market, will be presenting its products to the consumers in a country of 1.3 billion people.

The partnership agreement was announced on Tuesday at the signing ceremony in Bombay, where Voltas headquarters is also located.

The ceremony was attended by top executives from Koç Holding A.Ş., Arçelik A.Ş., Tata and Voltas.

Within the scope of the partnership agreement, refrigerators will be produced at the factory to be established in India. The joint venture will also sell the main white goods produced at the Arçelik plants.

Fatih Kemal Ebiçlioğlu, president of Durable Goods Companies at Koç Holding, said that the center of economic power has recently shifted towards Asia and the region has become a center of attraction for new investments.

"With both demographic and economic potential, India is projected to be the region's most important market and the world's second largest economy by 2050 in line with international projections. Indeed, with a population of 1.3 billion, India offers great potential in terms of a major appliances market," he continued.

Arçelik CEO Hakan Bulgurlu noted that with the said investment in India, they have taken an important step in their strategy of instituting a Beko Road on the ancient Silk Road.

Explaining that they aim to begin production at the end of 2018, Bulgurlu said, "With our investment in the factory to be established from scratch, we aim for our joint venture to exceed $1 billion in turnover and reach over a 10-percent market share in India within 10 years."

Tata board member and Voltas Ltd Chairman Ishaat Hussain stated that durable consumer goods is an important business line for Voltas and that they are pleased to establish this partnership with Arçelik A.Ş., part of the Koç Group.

"We will present our customers with superior products in the Indian market with Arçelik's strong technology, global production and procurement capabilities," Hussain said, adding that this partnership will also contribute to the further development of Voltas' brand recognition and distribution power.