Electrolux AB said chief executive Keith McLoughlin will step down in favor of Jonas Samuelson after the Swedish manufacturer abandoned a $3.3 billion deal to buy General Electric's household goods business following a 15- month pursuit. McLoughlin cited family reasons for his decision to retire and move back to the US, where he will continue to work for Electrolux on a consultancy basis, the Stockholm-based company said in a statementon Monday.
Samuelson, who heads the company’s major appliance operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will continue to focus the maker of fridges, ovens and dishwashers on product development and cost controls, he said on a conference call for reporters and analysts. “This work will never be finished,” Samuelson said. “We’ll continue to improve cost, quality and flexibility.”
Electrolux pursued the GE deal to gain scale in the US market and had decided to go to court to fight the US Justice Department's claims that the combined company and rival Whirlpool Corp. would be overly dominant in the US cooking- appliance area. The deal was first announced in September 2014 and a trial was under way in Washington when the two companies announced Dec. 7 they were abandoning the plan.
Smaller acquisitions
Chairman Ronnie Leten said the Stockholm-based company will pursue organic growth and consider smaller acquisitions if it identifies appropriate targets. Samuelson will elaborate on the company’s strategy at a capital markets day scheduled for Feb. 24, the chairman said. Samuelson, who joined
Electrolux in 2008, has also held the roles of head of global operations and group chief financial officer, according to the statement. A process is underway to appoint a new president of the North American major appliances unit that McLoughlin has led since April last year, Samuelson said, and candidates have already been identified. The company’s shares weakened 0.9 percent to 193.50 kronor as of 11:45 a.m. in Stockholm, valuing the business at 59.9 billion kronor ($7 billion).
After the collapse of the GE deal, Electrolux unveiled a plan to cut costs and jobs at its small-appliance unit, which it said was unrelated. The manufacturer paid GE a breakup fee of $175 million, and said the transaction and integration costs from the failed deal would be about 175 million kronor in the fourth quarter while expenses related to a bridge loan would be 225 million kronor. The GE deal would have allowed Electrolux, the maker of Frigidaire appliances, to better compete with Whirlpool Corp. and Asian manufacturers. GE said it abandoned the accord because of opposition from US antitrust regulators, who had sued to block the transaction.
