Siemens is to spin off its gas and power interests in a new company to be given “complete independence and entrepreneurial freedom”. The new company will comprise Siemens’ current oil and gas, conventional power generation, power transmission and related services businesses. It will also take over Siemens’ 59% stake in renewable energies company SGRE.
Providing the plans are confirmed at a shareholder meeting in June, the new company will be separately listed on the stock exchange by September 2020. Siemens will be a “strong anchor shareholder” in the new company, with a minority stake but one that remains “above the level of a blocking minority holding” and will also support the new company via Siemens Financial Services, its sales network and by licensing the Siemens brand.
Lisa Davis, chief executive of Siemens’ Gas and Power, said, ”Being independent will enable us to more effectively leverage our position of strength to further support our customers in rapidly changing energy markets.
“… as the only company with a leading portfolio along the entire energy value chain – in both conventional and renewable energy – we are uniquely able to help both public- and private-sector customers benefit from these developments. We’ll now have more freedom and agility to be able to concentrate fully on the highly specific and quickly changing requirements of our markets and customers. In addition, we’ll be able to more directly control our costs and ensure that our stakeholders benefit directly from every euro we spend.”
“This move will create a powerful pure play in the energy and electricity sector with a unique, integrated setup,” said Joe Kaeser, president and chief executive of Siemens AG. ”Combining our portfolio for conventional power generation with power supply from renewable energies will enable us to fully meet customer demand. It will also allow us to provide an optimized and, when necessary, combined range of offerings from a single source.”
Klaus Patzak, the new chief financial officer will be responsible for building finance governance structures, steering the activities required for carving out and listing, and helping to shape the format of the future stand-alone business. Michael Becker will retain responsibility for the finance operational activities of the GP Operating Company.