Vestas to acquire MHI’s entire stake in offshore wind JV for $827m

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems has agreed to acquire Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI) complete stake in their offshore wind joint venture MHI Vestas Offshore Wind (MVOW).

The transaction is valued at €709m ($827m), based on the volume-weighted average of the price for shares in Vestas the last five days up to and including 28th October.

Under the agreement, the Japanese firm will take a 2.5% stake in Vestas as well will get a seat in Vestas’ board of directors.

Completion of the deal is subject to approval by the competition authorities.

Vestas anticipates the deal to close by the fourth quarter of this year or by the first quarter of 2021.

In a statement, Vestas said: “Subscription and payment of the new shares shall be made by MHI Denmark at the date of completion of the transaction, but no later than 12 months after the date of the decision by the board of directors to issue the shares.

“Vestas is subject to certain obligations to offer MHI Denmark rights to subscribe for shares against cash payment in the event of a rights issue to shareholders in the period until the closing of the transaction to ensure that any changes to the size of the nominal value of Vestas shares do not subsequently impact MHI Denmark’s proportionate holdings.”

Vestas noted that the process of integrating MVOW into the Vestas group will commence immediately and run until transaction closing.

Last August, Vestas agreed to sell its majority stake in three wind farms in Romania for around $150m (€136m).