Nidec to sell its Secop compressor business to ESSVP IV

Nidec announced in a press release yesterday (April 22) that two Nidec subsidiaries, Nidec Europe B.V. and Nidec Americas Holding Corporation will sell Nidec’s entire compressor business, Secop, to ESSVP IV L.P., ESSVP IV (Structured) L.P. and Silenos GmbH & Co. KG.

The deal “is subject to regulatory approvals in Germany, Austria and Spain, as well as the approval of the European Commission,” the press release states.

The announcement of the sale comes after Nidec’s offer to the European Commission to sell parts of its refrigeration compressor business as a condition to the approval of its acquisition of Embraco.

On April 12, the European Commission announced that it had approved Nidec’s acquisition of Embraco.

The approval, however, was dependent on Nidec divesting its parts of its refrigeration compressor business where overlap exists between Nidec and Embraco in the markets where the Commission had identified competition concerns.

In November 2018, the European Commission announced an “in-depth investigation” into the deal on the grounds that it could create an unfair marketplace for light-commercial compressors.