Daikin pays $1 billion for AHT Cooling
TOKYO: Daikin Industries Ltd said yesterday that it would buy Austria-based AHT Cooling Systems for €881 million ($1 billion) as it seeks global growth outside the maturing air-conditioning business in the developed world.
Daikin, the world’s largest maker of airconditioning equipment, said it would buy all of unlisted AHT Cooling, a refrigerator maker for business use, from British investment firm Bridgepoint Capital.
“The purchase of AHT Cooling will solidify Daikin’s foothold in Europe, while helping to expand its refrigeration business in the United States and Asia,’’ the Osakabased company said in a statement.
AHT has production sites in Austria, the United States, China and Brazil.
Daikin has been setting its sights overseas and beyond its mainstay air-conditioning business, buying Italy’s Zanotti, a maker of industrial cooling and freezing equipment, for €98 million in 2016.
Having succeeded in grabbing a high share of Asia’s emerging air-conditioning market, particularly in India, Daikin is aiming to expand in Africa, where South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc and China’s Haier Group Corp are established giants.