Concentric Circle Around The Globe By Rod Kackley

Concentric Circle

Around The Globe

By Rod Kackley

“The Medical Mile (in Grand Rapids, Michigan) needs to be a concentric circle around the globe,” said one of the people I talked to in the research phase of writing Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community.

Jerry Callahan, Van Andel Institute’s director of business development, was making the point in his rapid-fire style that the institution’s on the Mile could not limit their vision to their campus, the city of Grand Rapids or the state of Michigan.

It is a global community in which we live. And it is much of the rest of the world where manufacturers find their greatest growth markets.

Keep that in mind when you learn that Whirlpool Corporation has entered into agreements to become a majority shareholder (51 percent) in Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. [600983: Shanghai], a leading home appliances manufacturer based in Hefei, China.

Through this transaction, a Whirlpool Corporation subsidiary will acquire all shares currently owned by Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. and Sanyo Electric Co. (China) Ltd., and purchase new Hefei Sanyo shares via a private placement.

The transaction is subject to customary conditions, certain termination rights, Chinese regulatory approval, and Hefei Sanyo shareholders' approval.  After the transaction is approved, Whirlpool will acquire a majority stake in Hefei Sanyo for approximately RMB 3.4 billion/USD 552 million cash, based on the exchange rate as of August 9, 2013. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2014.  Whirlpool expects that this transaction will be accretive in the first full year of integration.

"Whirlpool has a strong presence in China's higher tier segments, this acquisition allows the company to build on, complement, and grow its position in the emerging Chinese market and to leverage our global enterprise for greater efficiencies," said Jeff Fettig, the chief executive officer and chairman of Whirlpool Corporation.  

At the same time, we are seeing a phenomenon that has come to be known as “reshoring.” 

That will be the subject of our next post on this blog.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids created a cluster of prosperity, Medical Mile, while the rest of Michigan was collapsing around them.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community is available wherever books are sold online including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes, as well as on the shelves of Barnes & Noble-Woodland Mall, Schuler Books & Music-28th Street and West Coast Coffee on Monroe Center in downtown Grand Rapids.

Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance is a five-part ebook essay series that examines the collapse and rise of Michigan manufacturing. It begins with The Great Collapse and is available wherever ebooks are sold online, including Amazon and iTunes.