KARACHI: Turkish company Arçelik A.S., which announced earlier this year that it was buying Pakistan’s home appliances brand Dawlance, said on Tuesday it has obtained all regulatory approvals needed for the $243-million acquisition and the transaction is now complete.

The share transfer was completed on Nov 2, Arçelik, one of the key players in the global home appliances industry, said in a statement.

Addressing a media briefing, Arçelik CEO Hakan Bulgurlu said the company plans to invest $42m to $50m in its Pakistan’s operations “in the immediate future”.

Plans to invest up to $50m in the near future

The acquisition made sense because Pakistan offered a “very, very strong possibility of future growth”, Mr Bulgurlu asserted, and described the deal as “a significant milestone that consolidates our growth strategies in the region”.

Elaborating, he said Pakistan has a population of nearly 185m people but the penetration of home appliances remained low. This means the Turkish company would have a lot of room to grow, he hoped.

With the latest acquisition, Arçelik now has 11 brands and 18 manufacturing facilities in seven countries including Turkey, Russia, Romania, China, South Africa, Thailand and Pakistan, he said. Overall, it operates in 130 countries, manages 11 core brands and employs 30,000 people across the world.

The acquisition is part of Arçelik’s larger plan to grow its business in Asia as it sees European markets — where it’s the third-largest player in its industry — reaching saturation point for white goods.

“Now that Dawlance is part of Arçelik, we will have even stronger scale, breadth and capabilities to compete more effectively and profitably in the global marketplace,” he said.

Dawlance, established in 1980, has been a major household appliances maker in Pakistan and sells refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, washing machines and microwaves. It remains a privately owned company and has two manufacturing sites in Karachi and one in Hyderabad.

Arçelik is owned by Koç Group, one of Turkey’s largest industrial conglomerates.

Mr Bulgurlu, who said he was impressed with the broad skill set of the people in Pakistan, hoped that after Arçelik’s acquisition more Turkish companies will follow suit. “The level of English in Pakistan is better than Germany,” he said.

“We’re excited about the potential that Pakistan has to offer. We believe in this country,” he said. “Pakistan’s economy is set to grow in the next three to five years. We want to be ready for that.”

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2016