China's Haier buys Sanyo appliance subsidiaries

China’s Haier Group has acquired the washing machine, refrigerator and 'white goods' businesses of Sanyo, including its country units in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Haier and Sanyo on Tuesday signed the “final agreement" on the transfer of equity ownership covering the deal, Haier, Sanyo and Panasonic Group said in separate states. Sanyo said in its statement that the transfer was the result of “structural reorganization" because the business units turned over to Haier "overlap with the white goods businesses in the global strategy of the Panasonic Group." White goods are appliances classified as heavy consumer durables and often white-enamel paint finish. The consumer appliance giant had total sales of ¥1.5 billion yen in Panasonic's 2011 financial statement. Panasonic acquired Sanyo in 2009. “Following the final agreement, [Haier and Sanyo] are aiming to complete the gradual transfer of the businesses by the end of March 2012," Panasonic said. “This is an opportune time for Haier to augment our R&D capabilities and build up first-class, competitive manufacturing bases across Japan and Southeast Asia, as well as localize our sales and marketing efforts in Southeast Asia," said Du Jingguo, vice president of Haier Group. “Haier will implement a dual-brand strategy with the "Haier" and "SANYO" brands in Southeast Asian markets, and with the "Haier" and "AQUA" brands in Japan, so as to achieve rapid growth from our innovation-led processes," Du Jingguo added. Du assured the 3,100 Sanyo employees affected by the acquisition that “Haier will respect local cultures and ensure that the levels of compensation for these employees will not go lower than what they were previously receiving." — ELR/VS, GMA News