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Nidec adds two more European companies to its portfolio

03 August, 2017

Nidec, the acquisitive Japanese motor-maker which now owns Control Techniques and Leroy-Somer, has added two more European businesses to its portfolio: the German compressor manufacturer, Secop, which it has bought for €185m in cash; and the Italian pump and motor producer, LGB Elettropompe.

Secop – which was known as Danfoss Compressors until Danfoss sold it to the private equity firm, Aurelius, in 2010 – employs more than 2,100 people and had sales worth €356m in 2016. It makes compressors for domestic and commercial refrigerators. Its compact, variable-speed compressors result in high-efficiency fridges with more storage space.

Nidec is combining Secop with several other subsidiaries including Nidec Sole (a domestic appliances motor-maker that it bought in 2010) and Nidec Motor corporation (based on Emerson’s motor and controls business, which it bought in 2010), to create the new Nidec Global Appliance division, with three factories in Europe, one in China and one in Mexico. This new division will focus on motors for appliances such as washing machines, dryers and dishwashers.

Nidec believes that the refrigerator market, which needs 170 million compressors per year, offers attractive growth opportunities. It adds that its expertise in brushless DC motors will help to make Secop more competitive.

Nidec hopes that its acquisition of Secop and its compressor products will open up new opportunities for growth

The second Nidec acquisition is the much smaller Italian firm, LGB Elettropompe, which employs about 40 people and had sales last year totalling €9.8m.  It specialises in pumps for commercial dishwashers and motors for ovens. Nidec says that it will strengthen its commercial motors business in Europe and increase its presence in the European food equipment market.

Nidec hopes that both acquisitions will help it reach its goal of achieving global sales worth two trillion yen ($9bn/£6.9bn) by 2020.




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