Energy: Berlin high-voltage specialist Trench sold to the USA for nine billion dollars

Munich. In a billion-dollar deal, the US company GE Vernova is taking over the former Siemens Energy subsidiary Trench. The German company's high-voltage technology is a prerequisite for resilient power grids needed in the current "electricity supercycle," said GE Vernova boss Scott Strazik on Wednesday when announcing the deal.

GE Vernova is paying the equivalent of around 8.4 billion euros (nine billion dollars) for Trench to the financial investor Triton. The Berlin company took over the Berlin company from Siemens Energy three years ago for what financial circles said was a three-digit million sum. Triton expanded it through acquisitions and built a new factory in Charlotte, North Carolina, which opened in the summer. Under Triton's aegis, around 800 more employees were added to the 2,500 employees.

According to Triton, Trench's sales have doubled to more than one billion euros. According to GE Vernova, the purchase price corresponds to 13 times operating earnings (adjusted Ebitda, forecast for 2028) before synergies. The new owner expects sales to continue to rise to around 1.7 billion euros by 2028, with an operating return on sales (Ebitda margin) of 36 percent. The order backlog, including framework agreements, is around five billion dollars.