Carlyle Asia fund supports $2.3b Siemens carve-out

Flender is a global business but Chinese demand is set to feature prominently as the country continues its transition to renewable energy as part of efforts to become carbon neutral by 2060. Already the world leader in wind power generation, Wood Mackenzie estimates China’s grid-connected capacity will rise nearly 120% during the current decade to reach 461 gigawatts.

“We are excited by the significant growth opportunity of wind energy development in China and across Asia, where a significant proportion of the global capacity additions is expected to originate,” said Janine Feng, a managing director in Carlyle’s Asia buyout team, said in a statement.

Equity for the investment will come from Carlyle Asia Partners V, which closed at $6.55 billion in 2018, and the EUR6.4 billion Carlyle Europe Partners V.

Mergermarket, AVCJ’s sister title, previously reported that Siemens received initial offers for Flender from Brookfield Asset Management, Triton, and Carlyle, with CVC Capital Partners dropping out earlier. CVC acquired the company – then primarily a manufacturer of gear units – in 2000 before selling it to Siemens in 2005 for EUR1.2 billion.

Siemens, which is reorienting its business to become a focused technology company, announced in September that Siemens Wind Energy Generation would be rolled into Flender. The goal was to spin-off the subsidiary via a public listing – Siemens recently took this course of action with its energy unit – but ultimately decided that a full sale represented a faster and clearer outcome, according to a separate statement.

Headquartered in Germany, Flender employs approximately 8,600 people and is active in 35 countries. Sales came to EUR2.2 billion in the 2020 financial year. It sells gear units, couplings and generators to the power generation, oil and gas, cement and mining, and marine and shipbuilding industries. The company also provides maintenance, repair, spare parts, and diagnostics services.

Flender supplies wind turbine manufacturers under the Winergy brand. It claims to have delivered 175 GW of gearbox capacity and more than 50,000 generators for wind turbines.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Industrials
• Europe
• Buyouts
• Cleantech
• Asia
• The Carlyle Group
• manufacturing