German engineering and electronics giant Bosch Group said it has completed its acquisition of Siemens’s 50 percent share in BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH.
Following the antitrust authorities’ approval, the former 50:50 Bosch-Siemens joint venture, which is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in Europe, will now be run as a wholly owned Bosch subsidiary, Bosch said in a statement.
In September last year, Siemens said Bosch has agreed to buy its stake in BSH for a total of €3 billion.
The household appliance manufacturer, which with its 50,000 associates generated sales of some €10.5 billion in 2013, will now be known as BSH Hausgeräte GmbH.
Bosch said the complete takeover of BSH will play a role in expanding Bosch’s activities in the area of connected buildings and appliances. As part of smart home concepts, household appliances are to become even easier to use and more energy efficient in the future – appliances will become even more user-friendly, the firm said.
“Our strategic objective is to create solutions for a connected world,” said Dr Karsten Ottenberg, who will continue to be at the helm of BSH in the future.
The company will be run as a largely independent operation within the Bosch Group.
“In the shape of Bosch, we shall continue to have a values-focused owner that fully supports our strategy,” Ottenberg added.
BSH said it will seek to further expand its position in the global market and gain more market share, especially outside Europe.
BSH intends to double its sales by 2025, and to achieve this, investment in research and development, as well as in the BSH brands, is to be stepped up, according to Ottenberg.
In acquiring all shares in BSH, Bosch is expanding its non-automotive business. With its consumer goods business now fully consolidated, roughly one quarter of Bosch sales will come from this business sector.
The share of total non-automotive Bosch sales will then be more than 40 percent. In this way, Bosch will take a step closer to its target of generating roughly half its sales from non-automotive business.
In 2013, Bosch’s 281,000 associates generated sales of €46.1 billion. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology.
