Jonas Samuelson & Ahmed Bakry
(Photo handout from Electrolux)
The international Electrolux group has said it has changed the name of Olympic Group to Electrolux Egypt as a final step of integration, according to an Electrolux press statement Tuesday.
The renaming comes on the back of Olympic Group’s acquisition by Electrolux in 2011.
This comes as part of Electrolux’s strategy to turn Egypt into its regional manufacturing hub, a move that will allow Egypt to compete strongly in the MENA markets.
The company will hold a press conference in the next few days to declare its investment plan in the Egyptian market, and reveal the new products provided by Electrolux Egypt.
Electrolux CEO of Major Appliances EMEA Jonas Samuelson said Electrolux decided to acquire Olympic, despite the economic and political challenges in Egypt at the time, because of trust in the potential for economic recovery.
Samuelson noted that Olympic Group has achieved great success in the Egyptian and regional markets over the past years, and it is now time to integrate it into a bigger name.
“Electrolux is a global leader in home appliances that sells products in more than 150 markets under the brands AEG, Zanussi, Frigidaire and Electrolux Grand Cuisine with total sales of EGP 99bn in 2014,” Samuelson added.
Chairman of Electrolux Egypt Ahmed Bakry said the company will continue its ambitious strategy to offer innovative and high quality products. These are manufactured using the latest technologies at competitive prices to meet different consumers’ needs in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa regions.
Bakry confirmed that the name change will not impact the commitments towards the consumers, distributors and trade partners.
The Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) confirmed Electrolux’s tender offer to buy 98.33% of the Olympic Group shares on the EGX. The shares were bought at a total of EGP 2.398bn for about 59.074m shares at a price of EGP 40.6 per share.
Samuelson met Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour in September 2014, and declared that Electrolux is currently implementing a number of investment expansions in Egypt. In addition, it will implement a new home appliances plant to accommodate approximately 1,000 workers.
