Launch of joint venture between Candy and Meiling in China

Candy Group has strengthened its presence in China with the recent signing of a joint venture agreement with Hefei Meiling, a company listed on the Shenzen Stock Exchange and controlled by Sichuan Changhong Electric, a leader in the refrigeration sector with an extensive distribution network.

The joint venture (Meiling Candy China - Washing Machine Limited Company) comes 10 years after the acquisition of the Jinling (GuangDong) washing machine factory and aims to expand sales in China by focusing on front-loading machines. The goal is to reach sales of 4 million units within the next three years.

For the Italian group (4,100 employees, six manufacturing facilities in Europe, Turkey and China, 47 subsidiaries and representation branches worldwide) the joint venture will also mark the start of a strategic partnership in the refrigeration sector, an important area of development in Candy’s expansion plans for the three-year period 2017-2019.

The joint venture with Meiling Candy is expected to enable the group to double its turnover in China to around 60 million euros (currently 2% of total revenues) and to reach a turnover of 20 million euros in the European refrigeration market. In 2016 the Group posted revenues of more than a billion euros, returning to pre-crisis levels of 2007.