A deal by Siemens Gamesa to buy key parts of rival wind OEM Senvion could be announced “within a few days” and possibly this week, Senvion chief executive Yves Rannou said in an internal email to employees, Recharge has learned.
Siemens Gamesa on September 16 had said it has entered into exclusive but non-binding negotiations for a potential acquisition of selected onshore wind service and other assets in Europe.
While neither company specified which of Senvion’s assets Siemens Gamesa may buy, Rannou then also said efforts to find a solution for the rest of Senvion’s business were ongoing.
Senvion in April filed for insolvency under self-administration after talks with lenders failed.
Senvion has an onshore and offshore turbine manufacturing plant in Bremerhaven with a capacity of more than 1GW, and a factory in Portugal that can churn out under 1GW of wind turbines, as well as a blade plant in Portugal.
The embattled OEM also has a nacelle plant in India with a production capacity of up to 1GW, and extensive global service contracts.
Senvion’s financial difficulties were exacerbated by turbine price pressures and the collapse of the German onshore wind market that have also plagued other wind OEM’s.
Rival mid-sized German-Spanish player Nordex only yesterday was helped by its largest shareholder, Spanish conglomerate Acciona, through a €99m ($109m) capital increase. The transaction will result in Acciona boosting its share in Nordex to 36.3%, a level forcing it to launch a take-over bid for all of Nordex.
