Suzlon Energy Limited, the worlds third biggest wind turbine maker, is moving to acquire remaining stocks held by minority shareholders in Repower Systems A.G. and turn the German company into its wholly-owned subsidiary.
Germany’s regulatory rules allow a stockholder with 95 percent shares of a company to start “squeeze-out proceedings” to buy shares held by minority shareholders.
AE-Rotor Holding B.V., a unit of Suzlon, has asked Repower’s board to begin this process. It holds 95.16 percent of the firm, Repower said in a statement yesterday.
The share transfer will result in Repower being a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, Suzlon said in a statement at the National Stock Exchange of India.
The move is subject to additional expenses, procedural steps, time limits and other regulations. Suzlon did not say how much the buyout will cost.
Suzlon has a 6.4-percent market share among global wind turbine manufacturers, while Repower has 3.4 percent according to a 2009 World Market Update report by BTM Consult ApS.
With Repower becoming a fully-owned unit, Suzlon could have almost 9.8 percent of the world’s manufacturing capacity, making it the world’s third leading wind turbine maker in terms of market share after Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A.S. and G.E.
While Suzlon has been the recognized leader in manufacturing wind turbines in India, it is smaller than Vestas and Gamesa. The European market accounts for 50 percent of the global wind energy market.
Suzlon had been increasingly acquiring Repower since 2007, until it acquired a majority stake in the company by buying 30 percent of the company’s shares from France-based industrial conglomerate Areva.
This was followed by an acquisition of another 22.48 percent stake from Portugal-based Martifer SGPS the same year.
Suzlon has installed over 15,000 megawatts of wind energy capacity in 25 countries and has operated across 32 countries with a workforce of over 13,000.
