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Vestas Discounts Foundries, Machine Shops in Sell Off.

Issued at 2013-10-29



Vestas Wind Systems A/S — a Denmark-based manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines, agreed to sell four foundries and two machining operations in Europe and China to an industrial group for €1.00 (est. $1.35) — plus the right to claim up to €25 million (est. $34.2 million) in future earnings, depending on the plants’ performance.  

The sale agreement remains subject to regulatory approval in China.

The aluminum and ductile iron foundries are located in Guldsmedshyttan, Sweden; Kristiansand, Norway; Magdeburg, Germany; and Xuzhou, China.  The machining operations are in Lem, Denmark, and Tianjin, China. The parts produced and processed by these plants include footings, rotor hubs, bearing housings, and other components of wind turbines rated from 660 kW to 8.0 MW.

About 1,000 workers are employed are at the six plants. Vestas recently said it would close a nacelle plant in Taranto, Italy, but it has reconsidered and will not sell a wind tower plant in Pueblo, Colorado.

“The divestment of our machining and casting units is part of the plan to improve our capacity utilization and to become a more asset-light and scalable company,” stated Jean-Marc Lechêne, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Vestas Wind Systems A/S.

The buyer is VTC Partners GmbH, an industrial holding company based in Munich, Germany, and it will continue to supply the relevant castings to Vestas for its turbine production. Both the buyer and the seller predicted that higher utilization rates under VTC ownership would lead to long-term cost benefits


Source: Foundry Magazine



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