PRESS: Bosch to sell Russian plants to Turkish fund Can Holding

MOSCOW, Dec 19 (PRIME) -- German producer of household appliances Bosch plans to sell its Russian plants to Turkish investment fund Can Holding, Kommersant business daily reported on Tuesday.

In April, S8 Capital told PRIME that it acquired 100% in the Russian plants of Bosch in the city of Engels – a spark plug plant, an electric instruments plant, and a site for production of boilers.

Kommersant said quoting Gusein Imanov – the founder of household appliances producer Jacky’s – that Bosch was at a final stage of selling its plants in the Strelna city near St. Petersburg. China’s Hisense left the negotiations because Can Holding had offered two times the money, Imanov told the business daily, adding that Bosch had fired the 30 remaining managers who sold appliances to the Russian retailers and oversaw parallel imports.

A source also told Kommersant that Can Holding planned to launch production of refrigerators, washing machines, and built-in appliances under its own brands Awox, Seikon, Telefox, Energia, and others in Russia. It could also provide its capacities to other vendors under contracts. Bosch’s does not include a buyback, the business daily said.

Two other sources confirmed that Can Holding was at a final stage of the deal, and one of them said that Bosch was ready to sell the plants for U.S. $20 million, but Can Holding offered even more. The source also said that it could be a fictitious deal because the plants’ equipment is worn out and cannot produce any equipment of any other brand.

“The attitude to Turkish producers in Europe is different. The Turkish plants are closer to German in the technological sense, and they could use Bosch’s solutions for their own products,” a representative of appliance distributor Marvel-Distribution told Kommersant.

Dmitry Shashkin, CEO of household appliances brand Kuppersberg, said the launch of contract manufacturing at the former Bosch plants by Can Holding could be a success because many Russian brands would be interested in the capacities. The country lacks high quality plants for contract manufacturing right now, he said.

A Hisense representative declined to comment, while Bosch, Can Holding, and the Federal Antimonopoly Service did not respond to a request for comment.

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