TDF Mauritius Ltd, part of Transamerica Distribution Finance, will acquire 65 per cent of Whirlpool Apple from the existing shareholders. While 40 per cent will be acquired from Whirlpool Corporation, the remaining 25 per cent will come from Apple Finance Ltd. The total investment by Transamerica Distribution Finance would be of the order of $21.36 million (Rs 89.70 crore).

TDF Mauritius will acquire a further 7 per cent in Whirlpool Apple by subscribing to a fresh issue of equity capital at a premium of over Rs 100 per share. Following the issue, Whirlpool Apple Finance's paid-up equity capital will go up to Rs 12.10 crore from Rs 10 crore atpresent, and its networth as on December 31, 1997 stood at Rs 46.84 crore.

The board of the re-christened company will have Atul Nishar as the chairman, while the majority of the board will be represented by Transamerica Distribution Finance officials. The company will provide financing facilities for two-wheelers and information technology hardware. Whirlpool Apple, in addition to financing consumers of these products, will also provide inventory financing, receivables servicing and corporate financing services to the dealers, distributors and manufacturers of these industries Whirlpool Apple, one of the largest players in the consumer durables financing business in India, currently has a network of 30 branches across the country. The company has lined up plans to increase this network to 50 branches. Whirlpool of India Ltd has said that it would continue to be closely associated with Transamerica Apple in future and the company would be the preferred provider for both inventory and consumer finance toWhirlpool and its distributors and dealers.

Transamerica Distribution Finance is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US-based Transamerica Corporation, one of the world's strongest independent financial services companies. Transamerica manages more then $50 billion in assets through its insurance, financing, investment, real estate and leasing operations. The organisation has operations in 30 countries worldwide. Transamerica Distribution Finance purchased Whirlpool Financial Corporation for $1.8 billion in October, 1997.