European Commission Greenlights Sumitomo’s Stake in EEW Offshore Wind EU

January 7, 2025, by Adnan Memija

The European Commission (EC) has approved the acquisition of joint control of EEW Offshore Wind EU by EEW Holding and Japanese trader Sumitomo Corporation.

The transaction relates primarily to the manufacturing of large steel tubes used in the construction of offshore wind farms.

The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given the limited impact on the market structure.

The agreement will result in EEW Holding maintaining a 55 per cent ownership in EEW Offshore Wind EU, while Sumitomo will take a 45 per cent interest in the company.

At the time when the announcement was made in August 2024, Christopher Schorge, Managing Partner of the EEW Group, said: “In order to continue to secure our position as global market leader, to continue to enable healthy growth and to be able to draw on sufficient resources to successfully handle large-scale projects, we, the owner families of Schorge and Dietze, have decided to bring a trusted strategic partner on board for this division. The majority shares remain with us as the owner families”.

EEW Offshore Wind Holding is one of three new holding companies EEW Group founded to organise its business more efficiently, according to the German foundation manufacturer.

The company combines the monopile business with the production site in Rostock (EEW SPC) and the associated mechanical engineering activities.

EEW SPC is providing monopiles for numerous offshore wind projects globally, including the 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project in the United States.