Clifford Chance has advised Arçelik A.Ş., one of the world’s leading home appliances and consumer durables companies, on the successful completion of the formation of a joint venture between Arçelik’s subsidiary, Beko B.V., and Whirlpool Corporation’s subsidiary, Whirpool EMEA Holdings LLC, resulting in the establishment of a standalone company, Beko Europe.
Based on production volumes in 2023, the combined share of Whirlpool’s European major domestic appliance business and Arçelik’s major domestic appliance, consumer electronics, air conditioning and small domestic appliance businesses makes Beko Europe the largest in Europe. With over 20,000 employees and 11 production sites, Beko Europe manufactures approximately 24 million home appliances each year.
Clifford Chance advised Arçelik not only on the formation of Beko Europe (as previously announced), but also on the acquisition of the full ownership of Whirlpool’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) operations.
Arçelik’s global footprint now spans 57 markets, with approximately 55,000 employees, and a combined revenue of around 11 billion euro, as per 2023 figures, achieving a significant increase in annual production capacity, reaching a total of 45 production facilities.
Alex Cook, Managing Partner at Clifford Chance’s Prague office, commented: “We are thrilled to have advised Arçelik on these groundbreaking transactions, and my congratulations go to the great team at our client with whom we have worked for almost 2 years now in getting these deals across the line. On the Clifford Chance side this has been an extensive cross-border, cross
jurisdictional journey, involving some 20 Clifford Chance offices and more than 100 lawyers. It has been an outstanding collective effort.”
Gareth Camp, Partner in Clifford Chance’s London office, commented: “It has been a real pleasure supporting Umut Nazif Çelik, Selen Sezginer, Mevce Kuntay Dölen, Naz Altınsoy Uçar and the rest of the Arçelik team on this complex and transformational transaction. For me, working as a single team to deliver our expertise across multiple jurisdictions goes to the heart of how Clifford Chance helped Arçelik reach its goals. We wish Beko Europe every success for the future.”
The cross-border team that advised on the project included Clifford Chance offices in Prague, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Istanbul, Warsaw, Bucharest, Newcastle, Barcelona, Madrid, Hong Kong, Beijing, Casablanca, Dubai, New York, and Washington. The transaction was led by the Prague office’s Managing Partner Alex Cook and Partner Gareth Camp from the London office, with the support of Managing Partner Itir Çiftçi and her team in Istanbul.
The core corporate team included Jeroen Thijssen (Partner), Mark Jan Arends (Partner), Umberto Penco Salvi (Partner), Michal Jašek (Counsel), Serkan Özel (Counsel), Petr Šebesta (Counsel), Antonio Folgore (Senior Associate), James Lloyd-Thomas (Senior Associate), Stanislav Holec (Senior Associate), Adnan Syed (Senior Associate), Emma Boobbyer (Senior Associate), Rizwan Butt (Senior Associate), Elisa Ielpo (Senior Associate), Sebastiaan van Steenbergen (Associate), Tomáš Procházka (Associate), Sabrina Spoor (Associate), Jordan Gulwell (Associate), Lauren Park (Associate), Daniel Redmond (Associate), Anna Lyczakowska (Associate), Nikoletta Koziol (Associate), Greta Bilotta (Associate), Justin Kottin (Associate), Emma Trooster (Associate), Assia Al Jerrari (Associate), Shannon Burke (Associate), Sara Bettoni (Associate), Muzammil Malamji (Associate), Martin Hrachovina (Junior Lawyer), Dávid Herich (Junior Lawyer), Lukas Ljubovič (Junior Lawyer), Orlaith Fox (Trainee Lawyer), William McQuail (Trainee Lawyer), and Federica Incoronato (Trainee Lawyer).
Anti-trust advice was provided by, among others, Anastasios Tomtsis (Partner), Sue Hinchliffe (Partner), Aleksander Tombiński (Counsel), Chandralekha Ghosh (Counsel), Greg Hayes (Senior Associate), Anne Filzmoser (Senior Associate), Deepaloke Chatterjee (Senior Associate), Asli Kural (Senior Associate), Nicole Wise (Associate), Eitan Myers (Associate), Michael Yan (Associate), Jonathan Blondeel (Associate), Helga Gudmundsdottir (Associate), Ana Hergouth (Associate), Avani Joshi (Associate), Valia Aravantinou Zafeiri (Associate), Carmen Puscas (Associate), Emmanuel Goriola (Associate), Maria Tsoukala (Associate), Bram Van der Beken (Associate), and Cecilia Moore (Associate).
UK, Dutch, US, and Italian tax advice were provided by, among others, Richard Kalaher (Partner), Michiel Sunderman (Partner), Paul Seraganian (Partner), Nicola Hemsley (Partner), Edward Page (Director), Viktoria Parkhomenko (Associate), Mario Martignago (Associate), and Tali Lee (Associate).
IP and tech support were provided by, among others, Don McCombie (Partner), Zayed Al Jamil (Partner), Lauren Royers (Senior Associate), Midori Takenaka (Senior Associate), Hemin Hazar (Senior Associate), Sally Samadi (Senior Associate), Laura Hartley (Associate), Alex Dixey (Associate), Lucy Cole (Trainee Lawyer), and Zain Khushi (Trainee Lawyer).
Employment and pensions advice were provided by, among others, Clare Hoxey (Partner), Chinwe Odimba-Chapman (Partner), Sonia Gilbert (Partner), Floris van de Bult (Partner), Cécile Zoro (Counsel), Olukayode Sonuga (Senior Associate), Florence Wong (Senior Associate), Sanne Blankestijn (Senior Associate), Louise Oliver (Senior Associate), Leon Kidd (Associate),
Emmanuel Maudet (Associate), Kristi Tucker (Associate), and Sherine Panicker (Trainee Lawyer).
The team in Istanbul included Deniz Göçük (Counsel), Aslı Kural (Senior Associate), Ekin Oner (Associate), Aysu Gurbuz (Associate), Zeynep Bildik (Associate), Busra Altuntas (Trainee Lawyer), Aykan Karpuzcu (Trainee Lawyer), and Melisa Mengu (Trainee Lawyer).