News

Bel to Acquire Power-One Power Solutions from ABB for $117 Million

April 27, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

Bel Fuse Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Power-One Power Solutions business of ABB Ltd.. Bel will pay approximately $117 million in cash to acquire the Power Solutions business, which had 2013 revenue of approximately $251 million. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014 and to be immediately accretive to Bel's earnings. ABB is divesting Power Solutions because of a limited fit and few synergies with ABB's other businesses. The unit was part of ABB's acquisition of Power-One. Power-One's solar inverter business is core to ABB's renewable strategy and will remain in the portfolio of the group.

Daniel Bernstein, Bel's President and CEO, said, "The acquisition of Power Solutions is a major step forward in the development of Bel's power business and the implementation of our strategy to enhance growth and profitability for our shareholders. Since 2009, we have believed that the combination of our two respective power businesses would create a dynamic enterprise capable of competing effectively on a global basis. Bel is excited by the many growth opportunities that will be created by this transaction, and we look forward to building an industry-leading power business with our new colleagues at Power Solutions."

“The divestment is in line with our strategy to continuously optimize our portfolio and to focus our efforts on driving profitable growth in our core automation and power businesses,” said ABB Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Spiesshofer. “The integration of Power-One, acquired for its world-leading solar power inverters business, is well on track.”

“This sale will allow us to focus on the solar power inverter products, while enabling the Power Solutions business to become part of a company focused on the manufacturing, distribution and sales of power supply products,” said Pekka Tiitinen, head of ABB’s Discrete Automation and Motion division.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, and with manufacturing facilities in Slovakia and China, Power Solutions is a leading provider of high-efficiency and high-density power conversion products for server, storage and networking equipment, industrial applications and power systems. Power Solutions offers a premier line of standard, modified-standard and custom designed ac-dc, dc-dc and other specific power conversion products for a variety of technologies in data centers, telecommunications and industrial applications. Power Solutions has a global sales footprint and a diverse customer base that includes some of the largest corporations and distributors in the world. It has 2,015 associates world-wide.

Bel is using KeyBank N.A. to finance the acquisition and will also use cash on hand. Bel will release earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014 on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.