General Electric (GE) recently announced its intent to purchase LM Wind Power, a Denmark-based manufacturer and supplier of rotor blades to the wind industry, for $1.65 billion. The deal in-sources wind turbine blade design and manufacturing for GE's Renewable Energy business. GE expects to close the transaction in the first half of 2017.
"This deal will merge the speed and focus of LM Wind Power's entrepreneurial culture with GE's world-class engineering and operational capabilities," said Marc de Jong, CEO of LM Wind Power. "Our two organizations are highly complementary, and the transaction positions us well to respond faster to customer needs and enhance performance of wind turbines to ultimately reduce the cost of energy. We look forward to working closely with the GE Renewable Energy team to accelerate our growth strategy and continue to deliver greater value to all our customers."
With more than three decades of experience and 190 patents, LM Wind Power is a leading supplier of blades for the wind turbine industry, offering blade development, manufacturing, service and logistics. The company's global manufacturing footprint includes 13 factories located across Denmark, Spain, Poland, Canada, the United States, India, China and Brazil.
GE intends to operate LM Wind Power as a standalone unit within GE Renewable Energy and will continue to fully support all industry customers with the aim of expanding these relationships. GE will also retain the ability to source blades from other suppliers.
LM Wind Power will continue to be led by its existing management team and be headquartered in Denmark, where it also maintains a global technology center.
For more information, visit www.gerenewableenergy.com.