omniture

Carrier Corp. and Midea Electric to Form Manufacturing Joint Venture in China

2008-07-02 10:00 842

GUANGZHOU, China, July 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Carrier Corp., a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), and Guangdong Midea Electric Appliances Co., Ltd (Shenzhen Stock Exchange. 000527), a unit of the Midea Group, have signed an agreement to form an air-conditioning manufacturing joint venture, Foshan Midea Carrier Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd, in Shunde, China. Midea will hold a 60 percent stake and Carrier will hold the minority stake in the joint venture. He XiangJian, chairman of the Midea Electric board, and Geraud Darnis, chairman and president of Carrier Corp., celebrated the contract signing at a ceremony today in Guangzhou.

The Midea-Carrier joint venture will produce residential and light commercial duct-free split air-conditioning systems exclusively for Carrier for the global market. The partners expect the manufacturing facility to be fully operational by the end of the year.

"The Midea-Carrier joint venture is a milestone in Carrier's long and successful relationship with Midea," said Darnis. "This venture brings together the strengths of two leaders in the global air-conditioning industry."

Midea is the largest exporter and leading air-conditioning manufacturer in China, the world's second largest and rapidly growing air-conditioning market. Midea offers world-class design expertise and manufacturing scale in duct-free split systems while Carrier is the global leader in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) systems. Carrier's founder, Dr. Willis Carrier, invented modern air conditioning in 1902. Carrier brings a well recognized brand name and unsurpassed global distribution network to the joint venture. Carrier has a significant presence in China with seven factories, more than 100 sales and service offices, 2,500 employees and a state-of-the-art global research and design center in Shanghai that opened in December 2006.

Midea and Carrier will invest 200 million Yuan (U.S. $29 million) in registered capital to establish the new company.

"Carrier has a rich history in China and this investment demonstrates our ongoing commitment to China and its HVACR markets," added Darnis.

Fang Hongbo, president of Midea Electric Co., Ltd, said, "Our new JV is aimed to be a stable, long-term platform of capital, product, technical and brand cooperation and alliance between Midea and Carrier. We will take full advantage of this opportunity to draw on manufacturing, technical and management experience from both parties to accelerate the globalization of the new venture."

In addition to Foshan Midea Carrier Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd, Midea Air Conditioning and Toshiba Carrier Corp. have four successful manufacturing joint ventures. Carrier indirectly participates in those joint ventures through its minority ownership of Toshiba Carrier.

About Midea Electric

Midea Electric originated from the air-conditioner business unit of Midea Group and listed in 1993. Midea Electric is the second largest residential A/C player in China. In 2007, total revenue was $4.4 billion. Midea Electric currently has 46,000 employees and is headquartered in Shunde, Foshan Guangdong Province.

About Carrier Corp.

Carrier Corp., headquartered in Farmington, Conn., is the world's largest provider of heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions. With 2007 revenues of $14.6 billion, Carrier has approximately 43,000 employees worldwide and operations in more than 170 countries. Carrier is part of United Technologies Corp., a Hartford, Connecticut-based provider of a broad range of high technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. Visit http://www.carrier.com for more information.

Source: Carrier Corp.
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