The European Commission yesterday approved plans for Siemens to merge its wind business with Spanish rival Gamesa in a bid to create the world’s largest wind farm manufacturer by market share.
The deal, first announced last June, marks a significant consolidation of the wind power sector, which is dominated by major players such as Siemens, GE, and Denmark’s Vestas.
But following scrutiny of the deal the European Commission has concluded there remains enough competition in both the offshore and onshore wind power sectors to allow the merger to go ahead without raising any concerns. The deal is now expected to complete early next month.
“We have reached a milestone in our path to merge Gamesa and Siemens Wind Power and create a leading global wind player,” said Lisa Davis, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG, in a statement. “This merger is designed to combine the complementary strengths of both companies to benefit our customers, shareholders, employees, and suppliers. I’m excited about bringing the new company to the market very soon.”
Siemens is paying €1bn to take a majority stake of 59 per cent in the combined business.
Once completed, the transaction will create a major player in the wind market, with a global installed capacity base of 75GW, an order book of €20.9bn, and annual revenues of €11bn.
Source: businessgreen.com
