Nordex to Buy Acciona's Wind Power Business

German wind turbine maker Nordex (NDX1.HA) is buying Spanish firm Acciona's wind power business for 785 million euros ($882 million) in cash and shares to create a global player in the wind energy market, it said late on Sunday.

"In combining their activities Nordex and Acciona Windpower will create a truly global company and in doing so reduce exposure to demand swings in individual markets," Nordex said in a statement.

In early Monday trading, Nordex shares were up 7.4 percent at 26.8 euros per share while Acciona's were up 9.3 percent at 69.13 euros.

Nordex said the two businesses were complementary, with Nordex strong in Europe and specialised in complex projects, while Acciona Windpower was focused on the Americas and emerging markets, primarily in large-scale wind farms.

Nordex will pay Acciona 366.4 million euros in a one-off cash payment and the rest by issuing 16.1 million new Nordex shares, equivalent to 16.6 percent of its capital, at an issue price of 26 euros per share. Its shares closed at 24.955 euros on Friday.

Meanwhile, Acciona is buying more existing shares in Nordex from Skion-Momentum, an investment vehicle belonging to the Quandt family, for 335 million euros, to take its total stake in the German firm to 29.9 percent.

Skion-Momentum will retain a 5.7 percent stake in Hamburg-based Nordex.

"Acciona Wind Power growth prospects were somewhat limited within Acciona. The deal allows Acciona to get a relevant stake in one of the largest wind turbine generation players worldwide, maintaining the exposure to the turbines business," BPI said in a note.

The CEO of the German company Lars Bondo Krogsgaard said on Monday the company had agreed to a three year lock up period with Acciona, during which time the Spanish company has agreed not to raise its stake further in Nordex.

Nordex said it expected to complete the purchase, including the capital increase, by the first quarter of 2016.

The deal would bring Acciona synergies worth over 95 million euros as of 2019, and would strengthen research and development and product development capabilities, the Spanish company said in an presentation on Monday.

Acciona also said that combining Nordex and its wind power business, which designs and manufactures turbines, would give the resulting company an estimated order backlog of about 2.8 gigawatts in 2015.

Acciona said it would make an estimated 675 million euros in capital gains from the sale of Acciona Windpower. During a conference call on Monday, director of corporate development at the Spanish company Juan Muro Lara said the company had no further short-term plans for its energy business.
 

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson in BERLIN and Sarah White and Paul Day in MADRID)