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He died at his home in Milan, of cardiac arrest, Andrea Merloni, one of the four sons of Vittorio, father of Indesit, the appliance giant sold in 2014 to Americans from Whirlwind.
Who was Andrea Merloni?
Andrea had just 53 years, was president of the Fineldo holding company, which controlled 41% of Indesit before the sale to the US group. Excellent passionate about motorcycles and yachtsBoth passions that he tried to turn into a business, trying to relaunch the historic Benelli brand, but without succeeding at all.
Dreamer, friendly and intelligent, eternal “Peter Pan” of the industry as some had nicknamed him, he was the designated heir of Father Vittorio, like him rigorous but also daring, as he had called his beloved yacht where he also lived for months.
Without half measures, a little against the tide, without children, after the separation of his wife Viola Melpignano had also invested in Bremen, very famous Fabriano jacket brand.
The industrial history of the Merloni group
The history of the Merloni family is closely linked to that of the homonymous family Merloni Industries, founded in 1930 in Fabriano, in the province of Ancona, from Aristide merloni. A small family business that began to produce scales, until the early 1950s to have 40% of the entire market. A few years later the production of liquefied gas cylinders and water heaters began, and gas stoves were also marketed for application in cylinders.
Merloni takes the first leap and begins to produce household appliances on a large scale. In 1960 he created the famous brand Ariston, with which it markets the products it sells directly.
It continues its decades-long rise, diversifying and acquiring. It begins to produce, with great success, washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, ovens and hobs. Buy Indesit, Scholtès, Stinol, and Hotpoint, to name a few.
At the peak of its success, the company has around 5,000 employees spread over 10 production plants, 7 in Italy (Fabriano, Maragone and Santa Maria), Costacciaro, Gualtieri, Matelica, Nocera Umbra (Gaifana), Sassoferrato and 3 in the abroad (Finland, Sweden and Ukraine), 19 offices in Europe and 2 in the United States and Australia, with a turnover of 847 million euros.
Selling to Whirlpool
In 2008 the branch of the group Antonio Merloni is overwhelmed by the crisis, which entails the closure of two factories, and the extraordinary administration procedure, for declaring bankruptcy according to the Marzano Law, having debts of 543.3 million euros. In 2010 an agreement was reached for the rescue and the reindustrialization of Antonio Merloni, which provides for financial interventions from the Government and the Marche, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna regions.
In 2014 the group decided to sell Indesit to Whirlpool., for a general improvement of 758 million euros. The Americans bought 60% of the company, corresponding to 66% of the voting rights. It is said to have been Andrea the only one to oppose to the Indesit sale, as his father would have liked. His brothers, on the other hand, had no desire to challenge the giants of low-cost appliances capable of invading European markets.
In 2015 Merloni became an international company for all purposes. It registers a turnover of 1,340 million euros, thanks to the commercialization of more than 7.2 million products per year in more than 150 countries and strong of 6,600 employees in 33 different countries.
Indesit Company becomes a leader in many European countries, including Italy, the United Kingdom and Russia, and today it is the second largest manufacturer in Europe by market share, with around 16,000 employees, 16 factories and 24 sales offices around the world. .
The Whirlpool crisis in Naples
Today, the situation of Whirlpool in Italy is explosive. As of November 1, 2020, it was decreed stop production at the Whirlpool plant in Naples. Employees forced to stay at home, but the company ensures that “it will pay full compensation to employees until December 31, 2020 subject to new evaluations after that date.”
Prime Minister Conte disclosed that he had made available “any economic solutions and aid such as tax relief, equity, development contracts, Industry 4.0 funds and SACE guarantee”, but CEO Blitzer explained that they cannot create an industrial perspective for that Naples make production competitive.
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