EU Commission clears Electrolux and Midea home appliance joint ventures

The European Commission decided on 5 August 2026 not to oppose the notified concentration between Electrolux and Midea concerning their joint ventures, declaring it compatible with the internal market. The clearance was published as a non-opposition notice in the Official Journal of the European Union of 13 August 2026, reference C/2026/4446.

The case, registered as M.12454 – ELECTROLUX / MIDEA / JVs, covers a cooperation between the Swedish home-appliance group Electrolux and the Chinese group Midea. The notice, issued as a text with EEA relevance, confirms that the Commission found no grounds to oppose the transaction after completing its review.

Legal basis under the EU Merger Regulation

The decision rests on Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings, the EU’s core merger control instrument (OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1). Under that provision, the Commission concludes in a Phase I review that a notified concentration does not raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the internal market and therefore does not oppose it.

Because the decision declares the operation compatible with the internal market, the two groups may proceed with the joint ventures in question without commitments or conditions being imposed. The text also clarifies that the decision applies throughout the European Economic Area, extending its effects beyond the 27 member states to the EEA countries.

Publication and access to the full decision

The Commission’s decision was made public through the C series of the Official Journal on 13 August 2026 under reference C/2026/4446. The full text of the decision is available only in English and will be made public once it is cleared of any business secrets it may contain. It will be accessible through two official channels:

• the merger section of the Commission’s “Competition policy” website, which offers search facilities by company name, case number, date and sectoral index;
• the EUR-Lex portal, in electronic form, under document number 32026M12454.

Both channels are designed to help the public, legal practitioners and market operators locate individual merger decisions, including the present case.

What the green light means for consumers

For European consumers and the home-appliances sector, the clearance removes regulatory uncertainty around the cooperation between two major groups in the sector and allows it to move forward within the EU and the EEA. The case also illustrates the routine application of EU merger control to joint-venture structures, in which the Commission verifies that cooperation between competitors does not restrict competition in the internal market. With this decision, the parties obtain legal certainty on the compatibility of their joint ventures, while the Commission keeps the market under scrutiny through the publicity of its merger decisions.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C/2026/4446, 13 August 2026, C series (official reference: C/2026/4446, case M.12454).