For the acquisition of Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy announced that it has raised €1.259 billion ($1.33 billion) through the sale of new shares. The purpose of this operation is to finance the acquisition of the entire wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa, which Siemens Energy did not yet own.
The context of the Siemens Gamesa takeover bid by Siemens Energy
Siemens Energy had launched a takeover bid for the remaining stake it did not yet own in Siemens Gamesa last November. The bid was prompted by several profit warnings in the Siemens Gamesa division, which had also become a problem for its parent company.
Successful fundraising for the acquisition of Siemens Gamesa
To help finance the €4.05 billion acquisition offer, Siemens Energy sold approximately 72.7 million new shares to institutional investors at a price of €17.32 each, a 5% discount to the previous day’s closing price. The deal was very well received by the markets, as Siemens Energy shares rose 1.8% after the share sale on Thursday.
Maria Ferraro, CFO of Siemens Energy, said she is very pleased that institutional investors have confidence in Siemens Energy’s strategy to become the leader in energy transition. It also pointed out that this capital increase was covered almost four times and that it was an important step in the refinancing of the cash takeover bid for Siemens Gamesa.
A Siemens Energy spokesman said BNP Paribas Energy Transition Fund subscribed for about 10% of the new shares, which translates to a 0.9% stake in Siemens Energy.
Siemens Energy’s main shareholder, Siemens, which had repeatedly ruled out investing more capital in Siemens Energy, has seen its direct stake diluted to 32% from 35%.
The coordinators of the Siemens Gamesa takeover operation
Citigroup and SocGen acted as joint global coordinators of the transaction, alongside the joint bookrunners UniCredit in cooperation with Kepler Cheuvreux and HSBC.
An increase in the share capital of Siemens Energy
Through this share sale, the share capital of Siemens Energy will be increased by 10% through the issue of new shares, which carry full dividend rights for the current fiscal year.
In conclusion, the successful sale of new Siemens Energy shares is expected to finance the acquisition of Siemens Gamesa and strengthen Siemens Energy’s leading position in the field of energy transition.
