DLA Piper advises Haier Smart Home on strategic divestment and equity issuance in Haier India

Global law firm DLA Piper has advised Haier Smart Home Co. Ltd. (Haier), a world‑leading producer of home appliances listed in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Germany, on the partial sale of its shareholding in Haier Appliances (India) P. Ltd. (Haier India) and Haier India’s issuance of new equity to an investor consortium comprising affiliates of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm, and Bharti Enterprises, an Indian multinational conglomerate.

Following completion of the transaction in March 2026, Haier and the investor consortium each hold 49% of Haier India, with the remaining 2% allocated to Haier India’s ESOP scheme.

Haier Smart Home, a subsidiary of the Haier Group founded in 1984, is the world’s largest home appliance manufacturer specializing in smart home solutions. With over 100,000 employees globally, Haier has established seven premium home appliance brand clusters worldwide, including Haier, Casarte, Leader, GE Appliances (United States), Fisher & Paykel (New Zealand), AQUA (Japan), and Candy (Italy). Haier also introduced the world’s first scenario brand, SANYINIAO, defining innovative smart home solutions for users.

Haier India, which began commercial operations in January 2004, has launched a wide range of innovative products across major categories including refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, LED panels, water heaters, commercial refrigerators, wine cellars, and microwave ovens. Over the past seven years, Haier India has achieved a compounded growth rate of 25%.

A cross‑practice, multi‑jurisdictional team from DLA Piper advised Haier on the overall transaction, with AZB & Partners acting as co‑counsel on Indian law matters.

James Chang, Corporate Partner who led the DLA Piper team, commented: “This landmark transaction demonstrates the deep strengths of DLA Piper’s Pan‑Asia corporate M&A and private equity practices, and our ability to deliver exceptional results for leading global businesses like Haier, in an ever‑evolving business landscape across East and South Asia.”

James was supported on the M&A aspects by Of Counsel Shuting Lu, Consultant Hao Guo (Beijing) and Consultant Yue Wang (Shanghai), together with Head of Corporate Stewart Wang, Consultant Zhiyuan Wu, Associates Sophia Sun and Jenny Wang from Shanghai Kaiman Law Firm.

Intellectual property advice was provided by Partner Horace Lam, Of Counsel Asher Xiuyuan Yan, Amanda Ge, and Senior Consultant Shuting Zhang (all Beijing), while Singapore-based partner Nathan Bush provided competition law advice with the support of Senior Associate Runyu Liu from Shanghai Kaiman Law Firm. Further corporate support came from Partner Katherine Chew, Senior Associate Karen Lee, and Associate Melvin Chua (all Singapore).

The wider team consisted of Tax Partner Windson Li (Beijing); Corporate Partners Benjamin Parameswaran (Hamburg) and Alexander Kolmakov (London); Employment Partners Johnny Choi (Hong Kong) and Nick Hipwell (London); Litigation and Regulatory Partner Ernest Yang (Hong Kong); and Head of Litigation Xiaoshan Chen from Shanghai Kaiman Law Firm.