The company gives itself a new home in the vibrant heart of Lombardy next to the future Human Technopole.
The Perseo building in Milan’s Expo district, a modern, state-of-the-art facility, reflects Whirlpool’s world leadership position and its strong orientation to innovation, design and sustainability
Comerio (VA) – Whirlpool Corporation chooses to stay in Italy, as announced in the Industrial Plan signed in July 2015, relocating the company’s Headquarters for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA) from Comerio (Varese) to the municipality of Pero, in Milan’s Expo district.
The Fabriano administrative location will continue to play a strategic role in the company’s corporate footprint in EMEA.
The new facility in Milan’s Expo district will serve as the new Regional HQs hosting core business functions for the EMEA region. From the new headquarters the Company will manage more than 30 countries, 15 industrial sites and over 24,000 employees, overseeing €5 billion in annual sales in 2015. The new headquarters will host 500 people of 28 different nationalities, speaking 21 languages, bringing diversity and enriching the local community. Whirlpool expects the new Headquarters to be fully operational by the beginning of 2017.
“I am glad to announce today the new home for our Europe, Middle East and Africa Headquarters. It will be located in the heart of Milan’s Expo district. Looking back proudly on our past, we are now ready to continue our journey into the future creating a modern, pleasant and comfortable working environment, a true winning workplace” stated Esther Berrozpe Galindo, President of Whirlpool EMEA and Executive Vice President of Whirlpool Corporation. “This announcement confirms the central role that Whirlpool recognizes to Italy, where we can already count on excellent talent and capabilities across all business functions and on the great know-how and skills that Italy offers to the home appliances industry.”
The chosen facility for Whirlpool’s EMEA Headquarters is located in the Perseo Expo District, over approx 12.000 sqm and will offer a true Winning Workplace, in terms of modern office layout for optimum work organization. The new Headquarters is expected to provide numerous strategic and logistical advantages, as it is located in Lombardy, next to the future Human Technopole, within a vibrant part of Italy which attracted massive investments due to Expo Milan 2015. It is also in a strategic position in terms of infrastructures due its proximity to high-speed railway transportation and airports, better access to mass-transportation and motorways as well as proximity to HQs of many business partners, associations, universities and city centre. It is also located in an area that has greater attractiveness for talent, both Italian and international.
Considerations such as energy efficiency, offices layout, general conditions of the Comerio building all led to the decision of adopting the Milan solution as the most suitable one. Whirlpool will work with local institutions to identify opportunities to best utilize the current facility in Comerio and bring value to the area.
Whirlpool’s presence in the Varese area will remain very substantial and will continue to attract ongoing investments. In particular, in Cassinetta di Biandronno we have our regional ‘hub’ for built-in products in EMEA, with more than 2.000 employees, in addition to EMEA Procurement and Research & Development functions.
Whirlpool’s choice to maintain its EMEA HQs in Italy confirms the commitment of the company to keep the country at the heart of its operations in the region. Whirlpool contribution to the Italian economy is extremely significant and spreads across the country, where it employs over 6,000 people in 8 locations, including factories, R&D centers, administrative offices, logistic operations and spare parts centers. This generates an indirect business for external Italian partners of approximately €1.2 billion per year, that means over 35% of the total EMEA yearly procurement spend.
The consolidation into a new Regional Headquarters is another important step in the execution of Italy’s Industrial Plan, together with the already announced investment of more than 500 million Euros in Research & Development, new products and processes in 4 years, the strengthening of the Italian manufacturing and the creation of a strategic hub for R&D, which attracts more than 75% of company’s spending in R&D for the EMEA region.
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CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this press release relating to the EMEA headquarters relocation and the anticipated benefits of such action constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. These statements reflect management’s current expectations regarding future events and speak only as of the date of this press release. Actual performance may differ materially from that expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations include, among other things, the risk that the headquarters relocation will be delayed or not completed and that expected benefits of the relocation will not be realized. In addition to these risks, reference should also be made to the factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in Whirlpool Corporation’s periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.