December 2, 2012 - Yaskawa Europe will acquire a majority of the shares of VIPA. 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. ‘By adding the engineering resources of ‘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’, according to Manfred Stern.
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary merger control clearance by the relevant competition authorities.
Founded in 1915, Yaskawa Electric is the world’s leading supplier of variable speed drives, motion control, and robotics. The Drives & Motion Division of Yaskawa America, Inc. manufactures industrial automation equipment. Its products include industrial AC drives, commercial HVAC drives, spindle drives and motors, servo systems, motion controllers, and low-voltage industrial control switches. The company's products are used in automotive, building automation, chemical and petrochemical, food and beverage, machine tool, material handling, metal forming, packaging, pharmaceutical, solar, plastics and rubber, and textile applications.
Yaskawa America’s Motoman Robotics Division provides robotic automation solutions for virtually every industry and robotic application, including arc welding, assembly, coating, dispensing, material handling, material cutting, material removal and spot welding operations. Yaskawa America, Inc. employs more than 1,000 people at its headquarters in Waukegan, IL and in offices across the United States.
VIPA was founded in 1985 in Erlangen by Mr. Wolfgang Seel as a system house for automation engineering. After the first PC-based machine operating panel there were further developments of control and communication modules. The first customers were from the automotive and food industry, for which it undertook engineering and machine and plant construction. VIPA is an international company serving its customers in 59 countries worldwide through an extensive network of solution partners, representative offices and affiliates.