Siemens Gamesa shares rose in Madrid after reports in Spain that the wind OEM was the target of acquisition interest from Asian giants Shanghai Electric and Mitsubishi.
The Chinese and Japanese groups have separately shown interest in taking over part or all of Spain-based Siemens Gamesa, claimed business title Expansion, citing multiple but unidentified sources.
Shares in Siemens Gamesa – which is 67%-owned by Germany-based Siemens Energy – were 3% higher in early afternoon trading in Madrid on 7 December, outperforming the IBEX 35 market which was slightly down.
The report noted Shanghai Electric’s existing relationship with Siemens Gamesa as a licensor of some offshore wind technology, and the recent decision of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to divest its half-share in offshore OEM MHI Vestas to its Danish partner Vestas.
MHI was quoted by Reuters on Wednesday as denying it is interested in Siemens Gamesa. "Our wind power strategy has already been shared as per our announcements," it reportedly said, pointing to its plans for close co-operation with Vestas after the announcement.
Although its onshore wind arm has suffered high-profile problems over the last few years – which recently-appointed CEO Andreas Nauen has pledged to fix – Siemens Gamesa is the global leader in supply of offshore turbines, a sector where it is preparing to bring the world's most powerful turbine to market at 15GW.
According to analyst Wood Mackenzie, Siemens Gamesa’s combined onshore and offshore firepower will see it overtake Vestas as the world’s largest by capacity by 2025.
Despite posting a €918m ($1.08bn) full-year loss for the last year, Siemens Gamesa is sitting on a record €30.2bn order book and is widely tipped as one of the best-placed to reap the rewards of the energy transition.
Any wholesale disposal of Siemens Gamesa would leave a big hole in the green capabilities of Siemens Energy, which was this year spun-off to encompass the energy interests of the German industrial giant.
Analysts at Clarkson Platou questioned whether Shanghai Electric – which has its own growth ambitions in China’s booming wind market – has the financial firepower to mount a full takeover.
Mitsubishi has that firepower, but the analyst group said: “In our view, it is not clear that EU regulators would approve any potential deal given the importance offshore wind for the continent’s climate goals and the centrality of SGRE to those aims.”
Siemens Gamesa and Siemens Energy declined to comment when contacted by Recharge.
Note: Updates with MHI comment
