Bard sale a weather vane for offshore wind

If there is one sector in clean energy that can be fairly confident of achieving tenfold, or more, growth over the next decade, it must be offshore wind. Yet last week, Bard Holding, the private company that has pioneered the full spectrum of offshore wind expertise in Germany – from project development, to construction and installation, from turbine manufacture to the making of foundations and components – said that it was up for sale.

The company has hired US investment bank JPMorgan to lead its efforts in the search for a strategic investor by spring 2012, according to its 13 September press release. The owners plan to divest an 87.5 per cent stake, spokesman Andreas Koelling told Bloomberg News.

Based in Emden, Bard heads a group of companies covering all stages of offshore wind development, including Bard Emden Energy, which makes rotor blades and components for turbines and assembles the machines.

Bernd Ranneberg, chief executive of Bard Holding, said: “The Bard group is the first company in the offshore industry which has gained reliable experience over the last one and a half years on the installation of deep water, far-from-the-coast offshore wind farms. Bard as offshore pioneer has been able to harness these, in part, extreme experiences and already today possesses a unique know-how.”

However analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance said that the offshore wind player has been over-exposed to a niche industry during a time of uncertain demand. The company appears to have a good pipeline of projects in early development, but fewer projects that are permitted and ready to go towards financing and construction. The way Bard is structured – covering all stages of development from manufacturing to assembling – makes it “very sensitive to any changes in the industry”, analysts said.

On 29 August 2011, the company said that Typhoon Offshore and HVC had agreed to buy its stake in a planned 600MW wind park in the North Sea. Bard will remain involved in the project as turbine supplier.

Bard is now developing the Bard Offshore 1 project, a 400MW park to the northwest of Borkum Island, Germany. The project is due to be completed by the end of 2013, together with a second 400MW project – Veja Mate – that has been permitted in the North Sea and is currently in the planning process.

There has been speculation over who might buy Bard. Multinational conglomerate General Electric may be interested in buying the wind farm builder, according to a report from the Financial Times Deutschland. Acquiring Bard might allow the industrial giant to capitalise on its expertise. However GE could think twice about such a move further into the sector – while it has been developing a 4MW offshore wind turbine, it has not received significant orders. It is consolidating its offshore wind operations in Norway, with 40 possible job losses, according to a statement earlier this month.

There are also keen buyers “especially from the Asian region and some European countries,” Axel Bahr, Bard's head of communications, told Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“Most of them share an objective to get hold of the technology and installation, maintenance and service expertise of Bard,” said Bahr. “Their solid financial background puts them in a position to enter into the fast-developing offshore market.” He added that Bard is an attractive investment opportunity in view of its “advanced technology and track record of setting up wind turbines at that distance offshore and water depth”.

The right investor, he says, will strengthen Bard's capital base and help launch new offshore projects. He adds that the company's ideal investor is one that is “interested in the whole company, from its manufacturing, to its building and logistics, and all the services that we provide.”

Reproduced with the permission of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. For further information, see www.newenergyfinance.com