The transaction, which is subject to approval from concerned regulatory authorities, is expected be completed in the first half of 2017.
LM Wind Power is a Denmark-based manufacturer and supplier of rotor blades for the wind industry. It has 13 factories across Europe, the US, India and China.
Since 1978, the company manufactured over 185,000 blades, corresponding to about 77GW of installed wind power capacity.
The deal will merge LM Wind Power’s entrepreneurial culture with GE’s engineering and operational capabilities.
GE Renewable Energy president and CEO Jérôme Pécresse said: “Increasingly, wind turbine innovation is driven by system design, materials science, and analytics – all elements of the GE Store.
“We, along with LM Wind Power, have a deep pipeline of technical innovations that can further reduce the cost of electricity. With our combined global footprint, we can build flexible solutions for customers around the world. This combination will help sustain growth in the wind power industry.
“The acquisition of LM Wind Power, a leading supplier to the wind industry, will help us deliver on that goal."
LM Wind Power had reported sales of €491m and EBITDA of €87m for the first half of this year. This represented a year-on-year growth of 40% and 81% respectively.
Recently, the company had revealed the longest ever blade spanning 88.4m long, demonstrating its continued strength in technology and manufacturing.
LM Wind Power CEO Marc de Jong said: "The offer from GE makes clear commercial sense for the growth of LM Wind Power and we are absolutely delighted with the prospects of having a world leader as our owner.
"It provides us with the necessary stability, visibility and strength to continue to realize the ambitious growth plans of the business and fully utilize our advanced design and technology, improve our manufacturing capabilities and reliability, expand our global footprint and reduce the Levelised Cost of Energy. It's a great day for LM Wind Power and for the wind industry!"
Image: GE to buy stake in LM Wind Power from Doughty Hanson. Photo: Courtesy of 2nix/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
