Vestas to sell six factories to Germany’s VTC Partners for €1

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems today said that it will sell its machining and casting factories to German industrial group VTC Partners GmbH for just €1.

The sale is part of the Aarhus, Denmark-based company's program of divesting assets under its two-year turnaround plan.

The sale comes in the same week when Vestas said that it was forming a joint venture with Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industry to develop offshore wind energy. (See: Denmark's Vestas to form offshore wind energy JV withy Japan's Mitsubishi)

Under that deal, Vestas will transfer the development of its large V164 8 MW offshore wind turbine along with the order book for its V112 offshore turbine, existing offshore service contracts and about 300 employees to the JV.

Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine maker, will sell to VTC Partners its two machining units and four casting units, which employ 1,000 people in Norway, Sweden, Germany, China and Denmark.

VTC Partners is the owner of the Silbitz Group a leading German-based casting group with an existing supplier relationship with Vestas.

The transaction has been agreed at a sales price of €1 plus an earn-out element for Vestas of up to €25 million.

Vestas expects the divestment will lower its costs for casted components by around €30 million over the next two years.

Vestas' said that the main priority in the divestment of its machining and casting units is to increase the flexibility of its supply chain and to secure a buyer that will ensure supply at the required quality and offer reduced and competitive prices for casted components going forward.

''The divestment of our machining and casting units is part of the plan to improve our capacity utilisation and to become a more asset-light and scalable company,'' says Jean-Marc Lechêne, executive vice president and COO of Vestas.

''This transaction offers compelling advantages for both parties involved and VTC plans to invest significantly in the strategic realignment of the group,'' said, Dr Thomas Robl, managing director of VTC Partners GmbH.