Nordex SE has presented its medium-term strategic targets, which are based on the assumption that it will be able to merge its operating business with that of Acciona Windpower (AWP) at the beginning of 2016.
Nordex has already applied for antitrust clearance of the acquisition of AWP. By pooling their activities, Nordex and AWP aim to establish a global player that is well positioned to face future market challenges.
Nordex says the companies will together be able to offset the effects of possible fluctuation in regional demand more effectively. With their combined product ranges, they will be able to address the typical requirements of customers in established, as well as emerging, wind power markets, explains Nordex.Â
The overarching goal being pursued by the new and larger Nordex SE will be to achieve a substantial reduction in the cost of energy from wind power. The cost of energy is to be lowered 15%-18% by 2018 through more efficient turbines and reduced product costs. This will be one of the key levers for increasing sales to the target mark of EUR 4.2 billion-4.5 billion over the next three years.
The two companies, which are currently still operating separately, are targeting sales of EUR 2.4 billion (Nordex) and EUR 1.0 billion (AWP) for this year.
The Nordex management board expects the group, as a joint entity, will be able to achieve an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin of over 10% by 2018, including around 60% of the synergy benefits of EUR 95 million per year expected from 2019 onward. The board particularly expects to be able to derive synergy benefits from successful joint marketing activities. In contrast, cost synergies are not the core aim of the acquisition.
"Nordex and AWP are an ideal fit for each other. We complement each other in key areas, and there is only little overlap. This will make the transformation of the two companies into a single group easier and allow it to bear fruit quickly," says Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, CEO of Nordex.
Both companies are already working on preparations for the merger, which is to be completed around 18 months after clearance by competition authorities.
