Siemens of Germany and Gamesa of Spain have decided to come together to form the world’s biggest wind power company.
Under the agreement, initialled on Friday, the wind power business of Siemens, including wind services, will be merged with Gamesa.
Siemens will receive newly-issued shares of the combined company and will hold 59 per cent of the share capital. The existing shareholders of Gamesa will hold 41 per cent.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It’s a perfect marriage,’’ said Ramesh Kymal, Chairman and Managing Director of Gamesa Wind Turbines Pvt. Ltd., the Indian arm of the Spanish company. The Indian subsidiary contributes close to 29 per cent of the global sales of Gamesa.
Asserting that the merger “is good for us,’’ Mr. Kymal said both Siemens and Gamesa had complementary strengths. The India venture could leverage these strengths, he said. Though Siemens had not really been off the block in wind power space in India, Mr. Kymal felt that the global strength of Siemens in terms of its technology and reach could bring lot of synergies for the Indian subsidiary. He also pointed to the benefit that could accrue from the enlarged balance sheet of the combined outfit post-merger. In a way, “it’s the right marriage,’’ he said. While Siemens is a top player in offshore wind energy space, Gamesa has very little presence only in this segment.
Strong visibilityADVERTISEMENT
Gamesa has strong visibility in countries such as India, China, Brazil and Latin America. Siemens, on the other hand, is dominant in Europe..
To a query, Mr. Kymal said the merger would not have any major bearing on the running of the Indian operations of Gamesa.
“Things are going good for us in India. So why should it be changed?’’ he asked.