Vestas hailed “a new chapter” after the completion of its deal to take full control of the MHI Vestas offshore wind OEM that it previously ran as a 50/50 joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).

The Danish wind group on Monday confirmed the closing of the deal, first announced in October, after securing necessary regulatory approvals, a transaction that also sees the Japanese group take a 2.5% stake in Vestas and get a seat on its board.

Vestas said its next priority is to complete the integration of MHI Vestas into its wider operations, with an ambition to wrap that process up by 1 February.

Vestas chairman Bert Nordberg said: “Welcoming offshore back is the beginning of a new chapter in Vestas’ history, offering strong growth opportunities towards 2030 and further acceleration of the deployment of renewable energy.”

The Danish group’s CEO Henrik Andersen added: “Today, offshore wind is officially a full part of the Vestas family again, and I look forward to creating a strong team that can establish the technological, operational and cultural platform to make us a leader in offshore like we already are in onshore.

“The immediate priority for us will be to integrate offshore into our operating model, which together with a leading offshore product platform and continued focus on execution will enable us lead the industry overall and accelerate the energy transition.”

There were more details of the management structure for the merged operation as Vestas announced roles for several top executives from the former JV.

Johnny Thomsen, who took over as CEO of MHI Vestas following the October departure of Philippe Kavafyan, becomes group senior vice president, head of global offshore commercial, while Flemming Ougaard is named SVP, head of global offshore service & construction.

Thomsen will report to Vestas’ chief sales officer, Juan Araluce, and Ougaard to Araluce and Vestas chief service officer Christian Venderby.

Vestas now faces the task of trying to claw-back ground on offshore wind market from global leader Siemens Gamesa, which has forged ahead with the development of turbines as powerful as 15MW that are already being booked into mega-projects around the world, while MHI Vestas’ offering remained focused on its pioneering – and highly successful – V164 offshore platform of up to 10MW.

The capital raise associated with MHI's 2.5% shareholding was also implemented as 5,049,337 new shares in Vestas were issued as part of the acquisition deal, giving the transaction a value of around $832m.

Wind

Vestas hails 'new chapter' as deal for full control of offshore wind venture closes