China's Haier, NZ's F&P look to cooperate after tie-up

HONG KONG, June 15 (Reuters) - China's Haier is working with New Zealand's Fisher & Paykel Appliances (FPA.NZ) on cooperation in a number of areas, following their tie-up last month, Haier's top Asia executive said on Monday. Haier, China's largest appliance maker, made headlines in May with the Fisher & Paykel deal, picking up a 20 percent stake in the struggling New Zealand appliance maker for about $50 million.

The deal marked a milestone for Haier, which previously launched a failed bid for U.S. appliance icon Maytag and was thought to be considering a bid for General Electric's (GE.N) appliance unit last year but ultimately said it wasn't interested.

"This isn't a financial transaction for us per se," Philip Carmichael, Haier's Asia Pacific chief, told Reuters in a phone interview, speaking of the F&P deal. He added a large delegation from F&P visited Haier's China headquarters last week.

"You can think of it in terms of a strategic alliance," he said. "We're looking at technical cooperation, possible design cooperation, some coordination of our manufacturing resources. And we're looking at optimisation of some sourcing."

Despite its checkered record in mergers and acquisitions, Haier, whose listed units include Qingdao Haier (600690.SS) and Haier Electronics (1169.HK), will continue to look for more opportunities in the future when such deals meet its criteria, Carmichael said.

"From a standpoint of M&A, the thing we look for is a cultural fit," he said. "We're looking for people with a similar commitment to product innovation, after-sales service and similar commitment to a focus on our industry."

(Reporting by Doug Young; Editing by Ken Wills)