Bosch is set to take full control of Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH), the domestic appliances giant that it formed with engineering group Siemens AG in 1967 and which has grown to be Europe’s largest manufacturer of appliances.
BSH’s production includes washing machines, refrigerators, ovens and vacuum cleaners and they are sold as Bosch, Siemens, Neff, Pitsos and other brands.
Bosch has agreed to acquire Siemens’ 50 percent stake in BSH for €3 billion (£2.35 billion). In the deal Siemens and Bosch will also each receive from BSH an additional distribution of €250 million (£196 million) before the transaction is completed.
The transaction requires regulatory approval, and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015. BSH, which has its headquarters in Munich, Germany, will then become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bosch Group. but can continue to use the Siemens brand for the appliances it produces.
Explaining Siemens’ exit from the JV, Ralf P. Thomas, Siemens’ CFO, said: “The sale of our BSH stake is part of our drive to continue focusing very intensively on our core business. In a constantly strong partnership over the last few decades, Bosch and Siemens have made BSH a successful leader in the area of household appliances. By uniting continuity with new perspectives, I’m convinced that Bosch’s complete acquisition of BSH will offer BSH’s customers, distribution partners and employees a very solid and sustainable structure.”
BSH’s revenue was about €10.5 billion (£8.24 billion) in 2013. It employs about 50,000 people in more than 80 group companies in 47 countries. BSH operates 41 factories in 13 countries in Europe, the U.S., Latin America and Asia.
Despite the growth in supply from low-cost regions in central Europe and Asia in recent years, BSH still has major manufacturing facilities in Germany: Traunreut (cooking appliances), Giengen (refrigeration), Dillingen (dishwashing), Nauen (washing and drying) and Bad Neustadt (consumer products, including vacuum cleaners).
In the U.S., it makes dishwashers in New Bern, N.C., and cooktops and related appliances such as range hoods in LaFollette, Tenn.
“BSH has been a successful and profitable company for many years. Strategically and technologically, it is a perfect match for the Bosch Group,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch.
He said BSH fits very well with Bosch’s product strategy called “Invented for Life”, which will involve the use of intelligent and energy-efficient technologies. Closer co-operation between Bosch Group and BSH will support opportunities in the emerging field called the Internet of Things, in which connected objects communicate and interact via the web and can be controlled by the consumer using smartphone apps.
BSH has a target to double its revenue by 2025, which BSH CEO Karsten Ottenberg said will now be supported by having “a strong owner in the future.”
