Vestas closes deal to buy out MHI from offshore wind venture

Vestas has closed the deal to buy out its offshore wind joint venture partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industry (MHI).

Under the deal, Vestas has acquired MHI’s shares in the MHI Vestas Offshore Wind joint venture, while the Japanese company will take a 2.5% stake in Vestas and will take a seat on the Danish manufacturer’s board of directors, subject to a vote by shareholders.

The partners had announced agreement of the deal in October. Vestas expects to fully integrate MHI Vestas with Vestas by 1 February 2021.

At the time, Vestas’s CEO Henrik Andersen said a new offshore wind turbine platform would be key to helping the company lead the offshroe wind sector by 2025.

Today (14 December), he said: “The immediate priority for us will be to integrate offshore into our operating model, which together with a leading offshore product platform and continued focus on execution will enable us to lead the industry overall and accelerate the energy transition.”

MHI Vestas’ current CEO Johnny Thomsen will become Vestas’ group senior vice president and head of global offshore commercial at Vestas, while its head of global offshore service, Flemming Ougaard, will become Vestas’ senior vice president and head of global service and construction.

Vestas and MHI are also setting up a wind power joint venture – targeting both onshore and offshore wind – together in MHI’s home market of Japan.

The two companies had officially launched their MHI Vestas joint venture in 2014, before splitting the company today.

Vestas’ chairman Bert Nordberg said “Welcoming offshore back is the beginning of a new chapter in Vestas’ history, offering strong growth opportunities towards 2030 and further acceleration of the deployment of renewable energy.”