Sale to U.S. air conditioner manufacturer Carrier
According to reports from Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) and others on the 25th (local time), Viessmann, one of Germany's largest heat pump and heating equipment manufacturers, is selling its core heating and cooling technology division to the American air conditioning manufacturer Carrier Global.
According to the reports, Viessmann is selling its core heating and cooling technology division to the American company Carrier for 12 billion euros (17.8 trillion won). Viessmann explained that 80% of the sale price will be paid in cash, and 20% will be received in the form of Carrier shares. Max Viessmann, a descendant of the founder and CEO of Viessmann, will join Carrier's board of directors.
Viessmann is one of Germany's largest heating equipment manufacturers alongside Bosch and Vaillant. It was recently expected to be the biggest beneficiary of the German government's climate-friendly heating transition.
Viessmann is regarded as a model company in the industry, and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and current Chancellor Olaf Scholz personally visited the company to receive explanations about heat pumps.
Among Viessmann's 14,500 employees, 11,000 work in the heating and cooling technology division. Viessmann's sales this year are expected to reach 4 billion euros (5.9 trillion won).
Carrier expects the European heat pump market to expand more than threefold to 15 billion euros (22.2 trillion won) by 2027.
"It seems they judged they cannot beat Korea's Samsung and LG," local media analysis
FAZ analyzed that Viessmann has taken self-help measures to maintain its position in competition against overwhelming companies coming from Asia.
FAZ's analysis is that Viessmann judged it is not in a position to beat Korean, Chinese, and Japanese companies, especially Korea's Samsung and LG, which are aggressively targeting the German heat pump market. Compared to Samsung and LG, Viessmann appears like a dwarf in terms of scale and quantity, FAZ added.
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