Vacon to Become Part of Danfoss Group

HELSINKI, December 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The global AC drives manufacturer Vacon is now part of the Danfoss Group, effective 1 December 2014. In September 2014, Danfoss announced a public tender offer to acquire all the shares of Vacon. By the end of November, Danfoss obtained approvals from all the relevant authorities, and has now acquired more than 90% of Vacon shares and voting rights in Vacon.

The combination of Vacon and Danfoss will create one of the world's leading players in the drives market, leveraging the best of the two companies.

"The clear ambition is to be a leading player in the drives market. We see that true value is created together. This is why we will create a new business, where people work together to develop the best products, applications and services for our customers," says Niels B. Christiansen, President and CEO of Danfoss.

"Combining two strong and innovative AC drives companies will give customers an even more competitive, innovative and attractive offering of AC drives. Joining forces also means that the new business will be able to invest further in both R&D and in the sales force, which is a key success factor in our business," says Vesa Laisi, President and CEO of Vacon.

Vesa Laisi will be the President of the new business segment, named Danfoss Drives.

"The dedicated drives focus unites both Vacon and Danfoss and distinguishes the two companies from competitors. Vesa has spent most of his career in the drives industry and he possesses very deep insights into the business. He will use this experience to guarantee world-leading product portfolio and customer service," says Niels B. Christiansen.

Danfoss also announces a reorganization of the rest of the Group. The closing of the Vacon deal now paves the way for establishing four strong and global segments.

"Today, we have very strong businesses and with the new structure, we can unite these in even stronger entities to further strengthen our market positions. This is the right outset for the next part of our strategic journey with a strong focus on growth," says Niels B. Christiansen.

Danfoss in brief 

Danfoss engineers technologies that enable the world of tomorrow do more with less. We meet the growing need for infrastructure, food supply, energy efficiency and climate-friendly solutions. Our products and services are used in areas such as refrigeration, air conditioning, heating, motor control and mobile machinery. We are also active in the field of renewable energy as well as district heating infrastructure for cities and urban communities. Our innovative engineering dates back to 1933 and today Danfoss is a world-leader, employing 22,500 employees and serving customers in more than 100 countries. We are still privately held by the founding family. Read more about us at http://www.danfoss.com.

Vacon in brief 

Vacon is driven by a passion to develop, manufacture and sell the best AC drives and inverters in the world - and provide customers with efficient product lifecycle services. Our AC drives offer optimum process control and energy efficiency for electric motors. Vacon inverters play a key role when energy is produced from renewable sources. Vacon has production and R&D facilities in Europe, Asia and North America, and sales offices in 31 countries. Further, Vacon has sales representatives and service partners in nearly 90 countries. In 2013, Vacon's revenues amounted to EUR 403.0 million, and the company employed globally approximately 1,600 people. The shares of Vacon Plc (VAC1V) are quoted on the main list of the Helsinki stock exchange (NASDAQ OMX Helsinki).

Media contact: Lasse Bastkjær Jensen, Head of Media Relations, Danfoss, +45-70-20-44-88

SOURCE Vacon Plc