Austria - After more than five centuries of independent existence, Austrian gas engine and genset specialist Jenbacher AG is to become part of the GE empire.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2003, subject to government and other approvals. A group of major shareholders of Jenbacher, which reported sales of 249 million Euro in 2001, have contracted to sell their controlling interest to GE Power Systems. GE will make a public tender offer for the remaining shares at 17.43 Euro/share. Following completion, Jenbacher will be integrated with GE Distributed Power part of GE Power Systems.
The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two companies. In 1999, they signed an agreement naming GE Distributed Power as Jenbacher’s exclusive distributor in North and South America for natural gas engines, gen-sets and cogeneration systems. “Jenbacher has highly-regarded technology and a solid product line with excellent opportunities for growth, and we welcome the resources of a larger organization to take the company to the next level,” said Herbert Liaunig on behalf of the major shareholders. “We have made a number of technological advancements in our industry and expect to continue to do so in the future with the benefit of GE’s global resources.” Jenbacher AG has recently landed the biggest service contract in its history, for the operation and maintenance of a total of 23 gas fired generation units in the Houston, Texas area; the order represents a total value of 23 million Euro over the eight-year term. The generators, which have a total output of 31 MWe, were supplied by Jenbacher and are currently installed at six landfill sites operated by Reliant. All the plants are linked via internet and satellite to Jenbacher’s Competence Center near Detroit.