BRUSSELS--European Union competition regulators cleared Siemens
AG's GBP785 million ($1.3 billion) acquisition of Rolls-Royce
Holdings PLC's civil energy operations Monday, a deal aimed at
pushing the German engineering firm further into a segment that
already dominates its business.
The European Commission, which acts as the EU's central
antitrust authority, said the deal didn't raise competition
concerns because the companies aren't close competitors. It also
approved Siemens' acquisition of Rolls' 50% stake in Rolls Wood
Group, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and John Wood Group PLC
that services gas turbines.
Siemens announced in May its purchase of the Rolls unit, which
builds electricity-generation turbines that are smaller than the
ones that Siemens makes.
Rolls, which had been looking to shed its energy division to
focus on larger parts of its business, also will receive GBP200
million from Siemens in a 25-year licensing agreement. The unit has
around 2,400 employees.
Rolls-Royce, best known for making jet engines, last year
generated about GBP1 billion in underlying sales from its energy
unit. The businesses being sold to Siemens contributed GBPR871
million in revenue and GBP72 million in underlying profit.
Friedrich Geiger in Frankfurt contributed to this article.
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
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