Industrial-focused Scottish private equity firm Clyde Blowers Capital (CBC) has agreed to buy Finnish wind turbine and industrial gear manufacturer Moventas in an equity deal worth €100m.
Following the deal, Clyde Blowers, with its existing David Brown Gear Systems business, will become one of the largest gear manufacturing groups in the world.
Moventas is one of the largest manufacturers of wind turbine gears globally. The company also manufactures power transmission solutions for industries such as pulp and paper and mining, and provides services for overhaul and maintenance.
The majority of the products' end uses are connected with renewable energy. The company has around 1,000 employees in ten countries and a worldwide partner network.
Jim McColl, chairman and chief executive of Clyde Blowers, said, 'Moventas is a very high quality engineering business with a fantastic product range, a strong dedicated management team with deep engineering capability and excellent customer relationships.
'It operates some of the most advanced, state of the art manufacturing and test facilities in the world and has an extensive product range, and is a leading independent player in the global wind turbine gearbox and drive solutions market with products extending across a wide range of wind turbines.
He added, 'Additionally they have a world class capability and exceptionally strong product offering for a wide range of industrial markets and are well positioned for future growth. We are very excited about the future prospects for Moventas.'
A new long-term ownership solution has been sought for Moventas companies since June when, after prolonged financing negotiations, the holding company Moventas Ltd was filed for bankruptcy and its operative subsidiaries applied for corporate restructuring.
As part of its corporate restructuring, Moventas is now exploring possibilities of reorganising its production in Finland, cooperation negotiations for which will begin on 21 November 2011.
In August venture-backed ClydeUnion, the pumps arm of Clyde Blowers Capital, was sold to American Fortune 500 company SPX for £750m.