June 21 - Siemens has signed a binding agreement to merge its wind power business with Gamesa to create what it claims will become “a leading global wind power player”.

Siemens will hold 59 percent of the share capital of the combined company, while Gamesa will hold 41 percent.

The new company will have its legal domicile, global headquarters and onshore headquarters in Spain, while its offshore headquarters will reside in Germany and Denmark.

The merged outfit is expected to have a 69 GW installed base worldwide, an order backlog of around EUR20 billion (USD22.6 billion) and revenue of EUR9.3 billion (USD10.5 billion).

Siemens noted that its wind power business has a strong foothold in North America and northern Europe, while Gamesa is well positioned in fast-growing emerging markets, such as India and Latin America, and southern Europe.

As part of the Siemens deal, Gamesa has entered into a contractual agreement with Areva, which will see the two parties waive their existing contractual restrictions in the offshore wind joint venture, Adwen.

This merger of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) follows the acquisition of Alstom's power generation business by GE at the end of last year, which has had a significant impact on some of the project forwarding companies that relied on Alstom's business.

HLPFI wonders what impact this latest merger will have on the wind energy logistics business. If you have any thoughts, please let the editorial team know at editorial@heavyliftpfi.com.

www.siemens.com

www.gamesa.com