By Canan Sevgili

GDANSK, June 19 (Reuters) - Turkish home appliance maker Arcelik ARCLK.IS has agreed to buy Whirlpool's WHR.N remaining 25% stake in Beko Europe for €71.5 million ($82 million), taking full ownership of the unit as it simplifies its partnership with the U.S. group.

The move follows Arcelik's April 2024 acquisition of Whirlpool's European operations, after which Whirlpool retained a minority stake in Beko Europe.

Arcelik said a shareholder agreement with Whirlpool had been terminated, but the existing brand licensing agreement would remain in place.

In a separate deal, Arcelik sold shares equal to 2.9% of its capital — previously acquired through a buyback programme — to Whirlpool for 2 billion lira. The sale price of 103.71 lira per share was at a slight discount to the previous close.

The company also said it had completed all payment obligations related to its 2022 acquisition of Indesit and Whirlpool's operations in Russia, with a final payment of €40 million.

STRUCTURE SIMPLIFIED

Cemal Demirtas, general manager for research at Istanbul-based Ata Invest, said the transactions are expected to result in a net cash outflow of around €70 million, while generating a one-off contribution of €100 million to €110 million to other operating income.

"We view these steps as positive in terms of simplifying the structure and supporting debt management," Demirtas said.

He said Arcelik had a market value of about $1.5 billion and net debt of roughly $3.7 billion as of the first quarter, adding that recent asset sales point to a focus on deleveraging.

However, operational pressures remain. "Both domestic and international operations are still facing challenges in terms of growth and profitability. A recovery in demand and margins is critical to strengthen cash flow and reduce leverage," he said. "Otherwise, high debt levels could continue to weigh on the stock."

Arcelik shares were up 0.1% at 1001 GMT.

($1 = 0.8726 euros)