Whirlpool Corporation Announces Planned Acquisition of Yummly

Whirlpool Corporation announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Yummly, Inc. Yummly, founded in 2009 by David Feller and Vadim Geshel, is a food-centric technology company that provides personalized recipes and cooking resources. Yummly has a customer base of more than 20 million registered users and is one of the world's largest digital recipe platforms. The acquisition is to strategically strengthen Whirlpool's ability to bring purposeful, consumer-relevant innovations to market in the emerging IoT space, according to the announcement.

“We are committed to introducing new products to market that remove complexity from the day-to-day lives of consumers,” said Brett Dibkey, VP, Integrated Business Units, Whirlpool Corporation. “Increasingly, these products will be defined by both physical and digital experiences. Yummly brings an outstanding platform on which to begin building our digital product offering.”

With this announcement, Whirlpool Corporation hopes to strengthen its position as a leader in building a seamlessly integrated connected kitchen. Every day, millions of consumers around the world use Whirlpool Corporation appliances to prepare meals for their families. The Yummly acquisition is designed to allow customers to dramatically reduce the stress from meal planning by helping answer the age-old question, “what's for dinner tonight?” 

Joe Liotine, president of Whirlpool North America said, “We look forward to the many possibilities to create value for our consumers with this acquisition.”

As a wholly-owned subsidiary, Yummly will continue to operate out of its headquarters in Redwood City, California. 

“We are extremely excited about the opportunities and innovations we can create with Whirlpool Corporation," said Brian Witlin, CEO, Yummly. “Whirlpool's purposeful and consumer-centric approach to innovation aligns perfectly with what we do, who we are, and what we seek to create for consumers as the kitchen becomes ever-more digitally connected.”

The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions and is expected to be finalized in May 2017. Terms of the acquisition are confidential and will not have a material impact on Whirlpool Corporation's 2017 financial statements.