Wärtsilä to divest its Drives products and associated manufacturing

Wärtsilä Corporation, Press release, 23 September 2016 at 10 am EET

Wärtsilä has agreed to divest its power drives business to Finland based The Switch. The divestment will encompass Wärtsilä's Medium and Low Voltage power drives specialised for marine applications. The assets include the company's test centre and parts of its manufacturing facilities in Stord, Norway. This business has earlier been a part of Wärtsilä's Electrical & Automation (E&A) business line. Following the acquisition, the Switch will serve as one of the supply chain partners to Wärtsilä's E&A business. The divestment is expected to be completed latest in November this year.

The move will enable Wärtsilä's Norway E&A activities to be focused on its core business of offering system level solutions. The Switch, a member of the Japanese Yaskawa Group, specialises in advanced drive train technology for renewable energy and special industry applications. The products involved will continue to be an important part of Wärtsilä's E&A offering, since they are optimised for marine applications and are proven elements within Wärtsilä systems. Wärtsilä will retain its expertise in application know-how and engineering and will continue to emphasise full system solutions such as the so called Low Loss Concept and hybrid solutions.

Media contacts:

Mr Peter Rogers
Director Power Conversion
Wärtsilä SAM Electronics GmbH
Tel: +49 4088 250
peter.rogers@wartsila.com

Ms Marit Holmlund-Sund
Senior Manager Marketing, Communications, Marine Solutions
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: +358 10 709 1439
marit.holmlund-sund@wartsila.com

Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä is a global leader in advanced technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.
In 2015, Wärtsilä's net sales totalled EUR 5 billion with approximately 18,800 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
www.wartsila.com