The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and the European Union's F-Gas Regulation, among other regulations, restrict the production, consumption, import, and export of HFCs, which are widely used as refrigerants in cold chain equipment, and require a transition to alternative refrigerants with a lower global warming potential. Europe has been at the forefront of these environmental initiatives, aligning with the region’s commitment to climate neutrality and customer preferences for greener technologies. Panasonic sees Europe as its most important market for the future.
Area Cooling is a company that is aggressively investing in growth areas such as inverter-controlled condensing units and CO2 condensing units. Its products have technological affinities with Panasonic's condensing units, as they have long used Panasonic-designed compressors. This company profile led Panasonic to determine that this acquisition would expedite the reinforcement of the foundation for its European business. The acquisition does not include the distribution business of compressors and other HVACR components Area Cooling is currently operating.
Area Cooling and Panasonic will share resources and create synergies in the condensing unit business to develop products that better meet customer needs, manufacture locally in Europe, and increase the presence of Panasonic condensing units in the European market.