Yaskawa Europe to acquire majority shares of VIPA

The Drives & Motion Division of Yaskawa America, Inc. is pleased to announce that Yaskawa Electric Corporation has signed an agreement between its European subsidiary, YASKAWA Europe GmbH (YEU) based in Eschborn, Germany, and VIPA Gesellschaft für Visualisierung und Prozessautomatisierung mbH (VIPA), based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, whereby YEU will acquire a majority of the shares of VIPA.

With the integration of VIPA into the YEU organization, Yaskawa is implementing its plan to complete its product portfolio to become a total solution provider. A combination of VIPA’s product portfolio of PLCs, I/O modules and HMI, with Yaskawa’s inverter, AC servo and robot product lines, will enable Yaskawa to offer a comprehensive automation solution portfolio for a diverse set of markets.

“VIPA is a perfect fit for Yaskawa. There are no overlaps in our product portfolios, but they are very complementary with much synergies to be expected,” states Koichi Takamiya, CEO and Regional Head for Europe, YASKAWA Europe GmbH.

“The tight cooperation with the global Yaskawa organization provides great growth opportunities for VIPA, particularly in Asia and the Americas,” explains Wolfgang Seel, CEO of VIPA.

“Beside the synergies resulting from the combined and integrated product portfolio, there are more benefits for existing and new YASKAWA customers,” states Manfred Stern, President of YASKAWA Europe GmbH. “By adding the engineering resources of the Drives & Motion Division and Robotics Division to VIPA, YASKAWA Europe now has a strong development team here in Europe, close to our customers and the markets. The VIPA acquisition, the recent significant investment into the new Headquarters infrastructure of the Robotics Division in Germany and the acquisition of YASKAWA Southern Africa earlier this year, proves YASKAWA’s commitment to the EMEA region as well as the growth expectations for Europe,” says Stern.

The closing of the transaction is subject to customary merger control clearance by the relevant competition authorities.