German engineering company Siemens has agreed a deal with Spanish renewables firm Gamesa to purchase a majority stake in their business and, in doing so, create the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines.
Siemens is to pay €1 billion to Gamesa’s shareholders in return for a 59% stake in the business, although the Spanish company said that Siemens would not be taking a majority position on the company’s board.
The chairman of Gamesa, Ignacio Martín, said: “The merger with Siemens constitutes recognition for the work performed by the company in recent years and evidences our commitment to generating value in the long term by creating significant synergies and extending the horizon of our profitable growth.”
“Today,” he said, in a speech to investors, “we are embarking on a new era, creating, alongside Siemens, a world leading wind player.
“We will continue to work as before, albeit as part of a stronger company and with an enhanced ability to offer all of our customers end-to-end solutions.”
The merged business will be headquartered in Madrid and will take over Danish manufacturer Vestas to become the biggest manufacturer of wind farms in the world, according to market share.
Prior to the deal, Siemens had a market share of 9.5%, but had been finding it hard to make their wind turbine business fully profitable.
Siemens share, along with Gamesa’s 4.5% market share, will bring the combined total to 15%, beating Vestas by just over 3%.
