The beginning of April brought with it two major transactions for German manufacturing giant Siemens, as it finalized the merger of its wind division with Spanish wind giant Gamesa, and also completed the acquisition of wind industry software provider Mentor Graphics.
The merger of Spanish wind energy behemoth Gamesa and Siemens’ Wind Power business was first announced almost a year ago, in June 2016, and last month it cleared antitrust approval with European authorities. The merger subsequently became effective on Monday, the 3rd of April, after the registration of the combined company in the Mercantile Registry of Biscay, Spain. The resulting business now has a presence in more than 90 countries, an industrial footprint in key wind markets, and an installed base of 75 gigawatts (GW) worth of wind energy. The combined company also has a €21 billion backlog, pro forma revenues of €11 billion and €1.1 billion of adjusted EBIT in the fiscal year ended December 2016.
However, this was only one of two big moves for Siemens, which announced Monday that it had also completed the acquisition of industry software provider Mentor Graphics.
“Closing the two deals has enabled us to achieve another key milestone in implementing Vision 2020,” said Siemens President and CEO Joe Kaeser. “With the new wind power company, we’ve created a global market leader in the area of renewable energies. Mentor Graphics will help us further expand our leading role in the digital sector. Both transactions will benefit customers, employees and shareholders.”
Mentor Graphics brings with it digital options for wind turbine manufacturing. According to Siemens, “Mentor Graphics is an important addition to the Siemens Digital Enterprise portfolio. Customers will be able not only to design a product’s structure and mechanical systems and simulate its behavior; they will also be able to virtually map and optimize electronic systems.”
While Siemens’ customers will benefit greatly from Mentor Graphics, all eyes are now on the resulting Gamesa/Siemens Wind Power company, and the role it will play in the global wind market. Rankings of global wind turbine manufacturers placed Gamesa and Siemens at fourth and fifth respectively, which should rock the boats of the top three manufacturers — Vestas, GE, and Goldwind.
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