CS Wind Buying Majority Stake in ASM Industries

South Korea-headquartered wind turbine tower supplier CS Wind is buying a 60 per cent stake in the Portuguese tower and foundation manufacturer ASM Industries, according to information on Korea Exchange.

The acquisition, valued at EUR 46.5 million, is aimed at strengthening CS Wind’s foothold in the European offshore wind market, the stock exchange update reveals.

After first announcing its offshore wind plans in the summer of 2017, ASM Industries signed a concession agreement with the Port of Aveiro Administration (APA) to build a an industrial production unit dedicated to offshore wind in Port of Aveiro and inaugurated a new wind tower production line in Sever do Vouga, Portugal, at the end of 2017.

The company started the construction of the factory in the the Port of Aveiro in 2018 and put it into operation the following year.

ASM Industries has since then delivered some of the floating foundations for the WindFloat wind farm offshore Portugal and towers for the Dutch Windpark Fryslân wind project, the world’s largest wind farm built in a body of fresh water.

CS Wind, which has been contracted to deliver towers by Vestas and Siemens Gamesa for several projects using their turbines, including those in Taiwan, already has its arm in Europe through CS Wind UK.

The South Korean company bought the Machrihanish factory, former Wind Towers Scotland, in April 2016, and announced plans to set up the first factory in the UK to commercially produce offshore wind towers, located adjacent to its onshore wind facilities.

In July 2016, CS Wind UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens to produce up to 200 towers for the company’s offshore wind turbines between 2017 and 2019.

The same month, the wind tower manufacturer signed an agreement with Vattenfall on the potential supply of components for Vattenfall’s onshore and offshore wind projects in the UK.

In December 2016, Ørsted, announced it was making a multi-million pound investment in CS Wind’s new offshore tower manufacturing facility, which gives the offshore wind developer preferred access rights to towers for its wind farms.

CS Wind UK dispatched the first towers made for offshore wind turbines in 2018.