The Zest WEG Group has acquired the entire business of Hawker Siddeley Electric Africa in South Africa, subject to conditions precedent. Hawker Siddeley is recognised among the pion-eers of mini substations and has become one of the largest manufacturers of mini substations, unit substations and distribution transformers in South Africa, with the capability to design and manufacture the complete range presently in use in the country’s industrial sector.
Louis Meiring, chief executive officer of the Zest WEG Group, says the rationale behind the acquisition is that, while the Zest WEG Group has enjoyed success in the African market with the supply of large transformers, it has not been able to participate in the transformer sector with products from 50 kVA to 20 MVA, in both distribution transformers and mini substations.
“It made absolute sense to fill this gap via an acquisition that would give us instant access to a product segment in which historically we could not compete,” says Meiring. “The acquisition means that we can now make the most of opportunities to supply a spectrum of our products on a turnkey basis. Pursuing this route will also give us a cost leadership advantage.”
Meiring adds that the acquisition has come just at the right time for the group, which is making robust progress against its 2020 strategic plan. The plan, initiated by WEG headquarters in Brazil in 2011, is poised to accelerate the expansion of its global network of businesses and manufacturing plants and is expected to ensure that the group increases its sales by at least 17% year-on-year until 2020, when it aims to arrive at a turnover of US$10-billion.
“The Zest WEG Group business model is one of continued investment in assets and technology transfer from WEG,” concludes Meiring. “To this end we will recapitalise the Hawker Siddeley business in the form of investment in new equipment and training. Our new company will become a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with the latest design and manufacturing capabilities. This positions us not only to supply these products throughout Africa, but also export from this facility to other parts of the world.”
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