ABB and Southwire Company, LLC have announced that they have signed an agreement to divest ABB’s Huntersville, North Carolina, cable factory to Southwire. The parties have mutually agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction. Closing is expected in the third quarter of 2015.
The sale of the Huntersville facility is in line with ABB’s Next Level strategy to continuously optimize its business portfolio. ABB and Southwire will also pursue a business partnership to leverage the facility for the land cable portion of certain HVDC projects.
“We remain fully committed to the North American market and to the high-voltage cables business. The decision to divest this factory is in line with our Next Level strategy and focus on optimizing our operations, exploring new business models and building partnerships,” said Claudio Facchin, president of ABB’s Power Systems division. “We are pleased that the Huntersville facility will be in the hands of Southwire, a well-established, innovation-focused company and look forward to building on our new business relationship.”
Through the acquisition, Southwire will add extra high-voltage cable products to its portfolio and expand its capacity to produce high-voltage cable, a market in which it already is a leading manufacturer.
“We are committed to growing in the global wire and cable market. Today, we take another step toward that goal as we further expand our manufacturing capacity and expand our lineup of products that are made in America for new and existing customers, both here and around the world,” Southwire President and CEO Stu Thorn said. “In addition, today’s agreement paves the way for us to develop a strategic relationship with a global company like ABB, a recognized leader in power and automation technologies.”
The 240,000-square-foot, 3-year-old plant features state-of-the-art technology for producing high-voltage and extra high-voltage underground transmission cables, ranging from 230kV to 400kV. Helping to strengthen North America’s power transmission infrastructure, these cables distribute massive amounts of electricity and renewable energy – including wind and solar – in support of the nation’s smart grid initiative.
“Southwire is a U.S.-based manufacturer expanding on U.S. soil,” Thorn said. “We are building a business that will be sustainable into future generations by continually evolving to meet the changing needs of our industry.”
“And as we expand, we remain committed to the communities we call home,” he added. “We look forward to sharing our vision of corporate sustainability with our new neighbors in Huntersville, North Carolina through our engaged and highly-skilled plant workforce and through our innovative, community-building partnerships.”
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