Siemens is planning to sell off its Innomotics motor and drive business unit for €3.5 billion to investment portfolio company KPS Capital Partners. The move follows creation of Innomotics, carved out as a discrete business unit in 2022, and preparations by Siemens in late 2023 to roll it out as a public company, but in a change of plans now has agreed to the sale to KPS. The transaction is expected to close in 2025.
A major producer of motors and large drive systems for industrial applications, Immotics has lately positioned itself also as a key supplier for the rapidly expanding green hydrogen market. It employs 15,000 people and operates 16 factories worldwide from headquarters in Nuremberg. Key product areas include low-voltage motors of asynchronous, reluctance and permanent magnet technology, high-voltage motors and medium-voltage drives.
“The partnership with KPS will support Innomotics in further expanding our extensive track record of successful technological innovation and of providing our customers with world-class products, solutions and services,” said Michael Reichle, CEO. “Innomotics will continue to benefit from strong growth potential driven by the sustainability-oriented demand for highly efficient electrification and energy consumption in industry and society.”
KPS manages a family of investment funds with $21.4 billion of assets typically of controlling equity investments in manufacturing and industrial companies that generate about $20.3 billion in revenue annually, operate 222 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries, and have approximately 48,000 employees.
Hydrogen applications a growing market for Innomotics
The company’s extensive motor portfolio offers solutions for virtually all main and auxiliary processes in the hydrogen industry including the countless pumps and compressors for pipeline transport, liquefaction, storage, and distribution of hydrogen. It manufactures motors with a wide range of power ratings from a few kW to 100 MW, for speeds up to 16,000 rpm, for safe environments as well as for plant areas with highly hazardous atmospheres.
For central drive tasks in the transport and liquefaction of hydrogen, compressors with high to very high power ratings are required. Depending on the plant concept, these are either reciprocating compressors or turbo compressors. Innomotics offers tailor made motor solutions in high voltage, with either very high torques or very high speeds, depending on the compressor type.
The high voltage motor product range extends from fin-cooled high voltage motors with an innovative cooling concept to modular high voltage motors that can be adapted to particular requirements. The high voltage motors are also equipped with explosion protection solutions, for example, flameproof enclosure for the fin-cooled high voltage motors and pressurized enclosure for the high voltage motors with modular cooling concept.
Low voltage motors for the various pumps, fans and compressors along the process chain are in use in the main and secondary processes. Innomotics’ low voltage motors range from 0.09 to 1000 kW.
For more info, see www.innomotix.com, www.siemens.com, www.kpsfund.com.
