U.S. WIND PARTS EXPORTER GROWS

American Superconductor buying Switch Engineering for $265 mil
Tom Tiernan, 14 March 2011 (Platts)

"American Superconductor is buying The Switch Engineering, which makes electrical control systems for wind turbines, for Eur190 million, (US$265 million)…

"Switch Engineering, headquartered in Finland, also represents a market opportunity topping $1 billion with its portfolio of permanent magnet generators, which American Superconductor said are a new class of generators being used in an increasing number of geared and direct-drive wind turbines…Switch offers permanent magnet generators of up to 6 MW already being used by several companies in Europe, Asia and the US…"

Flash Player 9 or higher is required to view the chart
Click here to download Flash Player now

View the full AMSC chart at Wikinvest

"…[A]pproved by the boards of both companies…American Superconductor expects to finance the deal with about $186 million in cash and the remainder in stock…[T]he deal is expected to be immediately accretive and support the company's growth of power control equipment and systems to support wind turbine manufacturers in China, Europe, Korea and the US.

"The combination 'will create a global wind power powerhouse,' that is expected to serve China's three largest wind turbine manufacturers -- Sinovel, Goldwind and Dongfang -- in various capacities, said Greg Yurek, founder and CEO of American Superconductor…"