BERLIN -- Struggling German television maker Loewe said on Wednesday it had sealed a partnership deal with China's Hisense consumer electronics company to help it reboot its business.
Loewe, the last major manufacturer of high-end television sets in Germany, filed earlier this month for protection from creditors, giving it three months to restructure while mostly maintaining control of its business.
The accord with Hisense does not affect the timeframe of its creditor protection application, a Loewe spokesman said.
The aim of the partnership is to "promote shared synergies in purchasing, production, development and sales", the German company, set up by two brothers in Berlin in 1923, said.
"The partnership is meant to enable Loewe to offer more state-of-the-art TVs in the premium brand's entry level segment in the future," it said.
Loewe will also gain access to the Chinese market and Hisense's latest TV panel technology, it added.
In return Hisense benefits from a distribution network in Western Europe and gains access to Loewe's TV software, it said.
Loewe specializes in high-end equipment like flat-screen TVs that sell for up to 5,000 euros (US$6,600) each. But it has been hit by competition from lower-cost rivals in Asia as well as the increasing saturation of the market.
Copryright Agence France-Presse, 2013
