By Christina Zander
STOCKHOLM--The American chief executive officer of Electrolux AB
Thursday vowed to stay at the helm of the Swedish home-appliance
maker and focus on overcoming antitrust hurdles to complete the
proposed acquisition of a General Electric Co. unit.
"I'm committed to the company and will remain that way," Keith
McLoughlin told reporters in a conference call, a week after a
Swedish newspaper said he would be leaving the company.
Last week, Electrolux itself had sowed doubts about Mr.
McLoughlin's fate, saying he had not resigned but that the company
was working on a succession plan.
Mr. McLoughlin said confusion may have arisen because Electrolux
is looking for an executive to run its North American operations,
not the group. He has been heading up the North American unit
himself after Jack Truong, the former head of the unit, left the
company in April.
Mr. McLoughlin is bracing for a busy summer after the U.S.
Department of Justice announced late on Wednesday that it would
challenge Electrolux's proposed $3.3 billion purchase of GE's
home-appliance arm. The acquisition would thrust Electrolux
head-to-head with industry leader, Whirlpool Corp. of the U.S.
The Justice Department said it would take the matter to court on
the grounds that the larger Electrolux would hinder
competition.
Mr. McLoughlin said the home-appliance business is highly
competitive and requires hefty research and development
investment.
"We intend to get the deal done this year," he said.
Electrolux shares plunged as much as 11% on the Stockholm
exchange Thursday amid concerns that the Swedish company will need
to recast the deal and may not be able to extract planned
cost-efficiency savings of $350 million.
Handelsbanken analyst Karri Rinta said he expects the
acquisition to eventually go through but said that Electrolux may
have to propose selling off some of GE's brands, such as
Hotpoint.
Write to Christina Zander at christina.zander@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Electrolux AB
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=SE0000103814
Access Investor Kit for Electrolux AB
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0101982082
Access Investor Kit for General Electric Co.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US3696041033
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires