Siemens and Gamesa announce merger of wind businesses

4C Offshore | Simon Powles
By: 17/06/2016 Gamesa
Siemens and Gamesa have signed binding agreements to merge Siemens' wind power business, including wind services, with Gamesa. Siemens will receive newly issued shares of the combined company and will hold 59 percent of the share capital while Gamesa's existing shareholders will hold 41 percent. As part of the merger, Siemens will fund a cash payment of €3.75 per share, which will be distributed to Gamesa's shareholders (excluding Siemens) immediately following the completion of the merger (net of any ordinary dividends paid until completion of the merger). The cash payment represents 26 percent of Gamesa's unaffected share price at market close on January 28, 2016.

Additionally Gamesa and Areva have entered into contractual agreements whereby Areva waives existing contractual restrictions in Gamesa's and Areva's offshore wind joint venture Adwen simplifying the merger between Gamesa and Siemens. As part of these agreements, Gamesa - in alignment with Siemens- grants Areva a put option for Areva's 50 percent stake and a call option for Gamesa's 50 percent stake in Adwen. Both options expire in three months. Alternatively, Areva can in this time divest 100 percent of Adwen to a third party via a drag-along right for Gamesa's stake.

The new company, which will be consolidated in Siemens' financial statements, is expected to have on a pro forma basis (last twelve months as of March 2016) a 69 GW installed base worldwide, an order backlog of around €20 billion, revenue of €9.3 billion and an adjusted EBIT of €839 million. The combined company will have its global headquarters in Spain and will remain listed in Spain. The onshore headquarters will be located in Spain, while the offshore headquarters will reside in Hamburg, Germany, and Vejle, Denmark.