Vestas Advances as Mitsubishi Talks Continue: Copenhagen Mover

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS), the world’s largest wind turbine maker, was the biggest gainer on the OMX Copenhagen 20 index (KFX) today after the company said talks with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (7011) are still continuing.

Vestas climbed as much as 5.8 percent, and rose 4.4 percent to 25.50 kroner as of 9:32 a.m. The volume of Vestas shares traded was 13 percent of the three-month daily average.

Morten Albaek, the company’s chief marketing officer, said yesterday that talks over a “strategic cooperation” are still underway, declining to comment further on the discussions first announced in August. Nordea Bank AB said today a number of market participants had started to doubt whether a venture with Mitsubishi would materialize.

“Whether or not a deal will happen is still uncertain, but an agreement is -- as we’ve said before -- a price trigger for the share,” Jesper Bamberger, a stock adviser for Nordea in Copenhagen, said in a note.

The Aarhus, Denmark-based company is looking for an investor to help it weather falling turbine prices, Chief Financial Officer Dag Andresen said Nov. 7. Vestas, struggling to return to profit as overcapacity in the industry squeezes margins, said the same day it will cut 3,000 more jobs and reduced its full-year cash-flow forecast.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Wienberg in Copenhagen at cwienberg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Brogger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net