German Offshore Wind Pioneer Bard Sees Takeover Within 12 Weeks

By Sally Bakewell - Fri Mar 16 15:54:57 GMT 2012

Bard Holding GmbH, a German company that helped pioneer deep water wind-farms, expects talks on its takeover by several companies to close within about 12 weeks.

Bard is discussing the sale with a couple of companies, Axel Bahr, a spokesman, said by phone, declining to name them because talks are continuing. Bard anticipates indicative offers at end-March and completion in 6 to 12 weeks, he said.

The company is developing the 400-megawatt Bard Offshore 1 wind farm in the German North Sea about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Borkum island, scheduled to be completed by next year or 2014. Bard has permission to build another 80 turbines in nearby waters about 40 meters (130 feet) deep.

Cost and technical challenges from developing wind turbines far at sea, among the most expensive of renewable technologies, led to financial pressure for Emden-based Bard, Bahr said.

The company suffered delays installing the machines and ran short of money, pushing the project with an expected capacity to power 400,000 homes about two years behind schedule, Bahr said.

Bard in September said it had begun seeking a strategic investor and appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)s investment banking arm to sell a 87.5 percent stake. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (042660) said in November it was interested.

While the shipbuilder is still studying it, there is no specific matter in progress at the moment, it said in an e- mailed reply to questions. JPMorgan Chase & Co wouldnt comment.

UniCredit Bank AG (HVM), which provided about 1.74 billion euros ($2.3 billion) for the wind park from 2007 to 2010, agreed to give a further 1.17 billion euros in August 2011, on the basis of various technical and legal reports by external consultants stating that the project was feasible, the bank said.

The 2.9 billion euros of UniCredit funds would allow the park to be finished, the bank said in a statement on its website this year. UniCredit declined to comment when Bloomberg called.

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German Offshore Wind Pioneer Bard Sees Takeover Within 12 Weeks

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