South Korea’s CS Wind acquires 100% of ASM Industries
Adelino Costa Matos sells CS Wind the minority stake (40%) that he had been left with after ceding control of the Aveiro company in 2021.
The giant CS Wind will take full control of ASM Industries, the national leader in the manufacture of wind towers, after buying the 40% stake that was still in the hands of Adelino da Costa Matos, who leaves the position of CEO.
Last summer, WAM Investments, owned by the son of the historic metallurgical industrialist Adelino da Silva Matos and by the former president of the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE), had sold a 60% stake in the Aveiro-based company for a total of €46.5 million.
“It was a fantastic cycle where, together with a great team and the support of the main stakeholders, we transformed ASM Industries into one of the largest wind tower manufacturers in Europe, after an ambitious expansion plan, focused on increasing the production capacity in Sever do Vouga and creating the new offshore plant in the Port of Aveiro,” stresses Adelino Costa Matos.
In a statement in which the two partners say they have “concluded that the most advantageous path for the company is the total control by CS Wind”, the until now CEO expresses “pride” for having “created the foundations of a new offshore industry in the country, more than quintupling the company in six years”, but adds that “at this time, what best serves the interests of the company will be exclusive control by the Korean partners, for a new cycle that will begin”.
As ECO reported in December, CS Wind ASM will invest close to €265 million over the next four years with the intention of tripling the production capacity of wind towers and offshore foundations in the industrial facilities occupied by the group in the Port of Aveiro.
The unit dedicated to the offshore segment currently produces less than a hundred pieces of equipment per year and has a total area of 72 thousand square metres in the Logistics and Industrial Activities Zone of Aveiro Port (ZALI). The group also owns a factory in Sever do Vouga, which annually makes close to 200 onshore towers to be installed in onshore wind farms.