Appliance maker Beko strikes deal to limit job losses in Italy

ROME (Reuters) - Turkish home appliances maker Beko, owned by Arcelik, has struck a deal with trade unions and other partners that will limit job losses in Italy, the country's industry ministry said in a statement on Monday.

A provisional deal was announced last week, subject to a vote by union members on its contents. It was signed in Rome after a workers' referendum ended with 88% in favour, the ministry said.

Under the agreement, planned redundancies were reduced to around 950 from 1,935 announced last year, and will be handled with voluntary exit packages rather than with mass firings, the statement added.

Italy's government, which co-signed the deal, said it would support affected workers with welfare measures. It confirmed that a factory in Siena that Beko wanted to close would be taken over by state-owned agency Invitalia and used for other purposes.

Beko, which pledged to invest 300 million euros ($340 million), said in a separate statement that the deal offered "a structured path for the reorganization and relaunch of Italian plants, with the aim of ensuring long-term sustainability and competitiveness."

($1 = 0.8814 euros)

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)