News

• Vesa Laisi appointed the President of Danfoss Drives business segment

The global AC drives manufacturer Vacon is now part of the Danfoss Group, effective 1 December 2014. In September 2014, Danfoss announced a public tender offer to acquire all the shares of Vacon. By the end of November, Danfoss obtained approvals from all the relevant authorities, and has now acquired more than 90% of Vacon shares and voting rights in Vacon.

The combination of Vacon and Danfoss will create one of the world’s leading players in the drives market, leveraging the best of the two companies. Vesa Laisi will be the President of the new business segment named Danfoss Drives. He will also continue as the President and CEO of Vacon Plc.

“Combining two strong and innovative AC drives companies will give customers an even more competitive, innovative and attractive offering of AC drives. Joining forces also means that the new business will be able to invest further in both R&D and in the sales force, which is a key success factor in our business,” says Vesa Laisi, President and CEO of Vacon.

“The dedicated drives focus unites both Vacon and Danfoss and distinguishes the two companies from competitors. Vesa has spent most of his career in the drives industry and he possesses very deep insights into the business. He will use this experience to guarantee a world-leading product portfolio and customer service,” says Niels B. Christiansen, President and CEO of Danfoss.

Vacon in brief:

Vacon is driven by a passion to develop, manufacture and sell the best AC drives and inverters in the world – and provide customers with efficient product lifecycle services. Our AC drives offer optimum process control and energy efficiency for electric motors. Vacon inverters play a key role when energy is produced from renewable sources. Vacon has production and R&D facilities in Europe, Asia and North America, and sales offices in 31 countries. Further, Vacon has sales representatives and service partners in nearly 90 countries. In 2013, Vacon’s revenues amounted to EUR 403.0 million, and the company employed globally approximately 1,600 people. The shares of Vacon Plc (VAC1V) are quoted on the main list of the Helsinki stock exchange (NASDAQ OMX Helsinki). Vacon is part of Danfoss Group.