Europe's #2 best-selling home appliance brand 'Beko' picks Thailand for ASEAN manufacturing hub - invests US$100 million for new plant;

- Regional production hub to help Beko replicate in AEC its success in Europe

BANGKOK, Jan. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- 'Beko', Europe's number 2 best-selling home appliance brand today (Wednesday 7 January) announced that it has selected Thailand to be the location of its first ASEAN production facility, with the plant going into operation by the end of 2015.

The plant, for which the foundation stone laying ceremony was conducted yesterday (Tuesday 6 January), is located on a 263,000 sqm plot at Hemaraj Rayong Industrial Land. It is being built with an investment of US$100 million and, within three years, will produce more than 500,000 units of refrigerators, annually.

Mr. Levent Cakiroglu, global CEO of Arcelik A.S., the owner of the Beko brand, said: "We aim to replicate within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) the phenomenal success of the Beko brand in Europe where we are the best-selling home appliance brand in the UK, the best-selling free-standing home appliance brand in France, as well as the fastest growing home appliance brand in Germany during the last five years. Having a regional production facility in Thailand that can quickly respond to regional market needs is the key to achieve our growth plans in the AEC."

He said, "We will export 90% of our production, and expect to generate sales of around US$500 million in the region, within three years."

"Since our launch in the Thai market in October last year, we have received a very positive response from Thai consumers. Beko refrigerators and washing machines have become one of the top-3 best-selling brands in the refrigerator and washing machine category in several major retail outlets in Thailand," he said.

Mr. Mustafa V. Koc, Chairman of Koc Holding -- which ranks among the world's top 350 companies and is the parent company of Arcelik A.S. -- said, "Beko is an unfolding, global success story that has been a phenomenon in Europe thanks to our ability to understand local needs and reliably fulfill them through high quality products that are innovation driven. Delivering on that commitment requires a global organisation that is staffed with the highest calibre people, production facilities that are both flexible and state-of-the-art, and strong R&D capabilities. This triple combination of assets has enabled us to embed innovation into our products rapidly and win market share in even the world's most competitive home appliance markets, such as Germany, France and the UK. We will bring this same approach to the AEC."

Koc Holding, headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, employs over 80,000 people, with consolidated sales of around US$ 34,000 million.

Mr. Koc stated: "Southeast Asia is fast becoming one of the world's most important economic centres and we believe Thailand has strong potential to be a manufacturing hub of this region."

He said that Thailand was selected as the regional production hub for Beko home appliances because of "the potential of the Thai economy, the existence of a strong network of supply industries, a geographically central location in the region, good infrastructure, and the promotional incentives offered by the Board of Investment."

The Thai plant is the group's fifteenth plant.

Beko and its sister home appliance brands registered sales of approximately US$5,800 million in 2013.

Further information:

Bangkok Public Relations Ltd: P.Kwantientong - Tel: +662-6649500