ALLENDORF / EDER (dpa-AFX) – The Hessian heating manufacturer Viessmann is selling its air conditioning division, including the lucrative heat pumps, to US competitor Carrier Global for twelve billion euros. In return, the remaining Viessmann Group will take over a block of shares and, according to its own statements, will become one of the largest shareholders in the US group. The north Hessians did not name a purchase price late Tuesday evening. Carrier put him at twelve billion euros in shares and cash. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Viessmann announced that both sides had agreed on long-term guarantees. Operational redundancies are excluded for three years, important locations are secured for five years and Allendorf an der Eder is set as the headquarters for ten years. 106 million euros are to be distributed to the employees of the division as a special bonus “for 106 years of success”. With the announcement late on Tuesday evening, what several media had already reported about the day from informed circles became a certainty.
The climate solutions division recently accounted for around 85 percent of sales at the family company from northern Hesse, which had risen to a record value of around 4 billion euros for 2022. The company, founded in 1917 from a metalworking shop, is one of the best-known German heating contractors and has so far been one of the winners of the climate change, especially in the building sector. It employs around 14,500 people worldwide.
The drivers for the strong growth in recent years were heat pumps, which, according to political specifications, should quickly replace gas and oil heating in buildings. In May 2022, Viessmann announced investments of around one billion euros in this area. Among other things, a factory is currently being built in Poland.
The company Carrier from the US state of Florida is considered the inventor of modern air conditioning and was founded in 1902. The group employs 52,000 people and earned $20.4 billion last year. North and South America accounted for 60 percent of sales. The company has three production sites in Europe, in France and Spain. In 2004, the Americans took over the refrigeration technology of what was then Linde AG, but later stopped production in Germany.
With the now agreed partial sale for shares and cash, the core business of the regionally positioned Viessmann company would be absorbed by the Carrier Group and would gain significantly greater financial strength. Faster growth would be possible, it was said in business circles. Ultimately, in global competition, at some point only size and quantity count. “The merger creates a fast-growing innovation leader in a highly competitive market from a position of strength,” explained company boss Max Viessmann, who is also to receive a seat on the carrier board of directors.
In mass production, however, experts see an advantage for the Asian suppliers of air conditioning systems, which are largely similar to heat pumps and have been built in extremely large numbers for decades. Well-known providers are Daikin, Mitsubishi (both Japan), Midea (China) and Samsung (Korea). In Germany, they still lack market access via installers./ceb/DP/zb
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