EU antitrust regulators have approved Turkish home appliance maker Arçelik's proposed acquisition of Whirlpool's European domestic appliances business, a European Commission filing showed Tuesday.
The European Commission announced that the acquisition of sole control over the household appliance operations of the U.S. company Whirlpool in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by Arçelik A.Ş. has been approved within the framework of EU company merger regulations.
"The commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns given in particular the presence of alternative suppliers in the European Economic Area (EEA) countries where both parties are active," the European Commission said in a statement.
Under the deal announced in January, the companies will set up a new entity made up of Arçelik's European units producing major and small domestic appliances as well as consumer electronics with Whirlpool's European business.
Arçelik will own 75% of the company and Whirlpool the remaining 25%.
Britain's antitrust regulator said on Oct. 11 that it had decided to refer the deal for an in-depth investigation.
If the deal were to go ahead, the new entity would be the single largest supplier of washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers and cooking appliances in the United Kingdom, where the market is worth more than 3.8 billion pounds ($4.67 billion), the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.
Whirlpool's brands include Ariston, 34 Indesit, Hotpoint, Ignis, Privileg, Bauknecht, Polar and Laden.
Arçelik's brands are Beko, Blomberg, Arctic, Altus, Grundig, Flavel, Leisure, Zenith and Elektra Bregenz. The company's shares were up by 3% right after the announcement of the decision on Tuesday.
