A tactical investmentnkt cables made its entry into the Chinese market back in 1999 via acquisition of the Cologne-based German company Felten & Guillaume Kabelwerke Gmbh, the transaction also including the majority ownership of a Chinese cable company in Changzhou some 150 km west of Shanghai.
“It was viewed as a long-term tactical investment, and we paid a high price to get a foot in the market,” says Dion Metzemaekers, the Dutchman who has been CEO of nkt cables Group GmbH since 2002.
nkt cables acquired full ownership of the Chinese company in 2001, and nkt cables Changzhou Co. Ltd., China, now employs around 270 people and manufactures MV cables and accessories, HV cables as well as catenary systems for railway electrification.
“The customers are Chinese electricity companies, power suppliers, the building and construction industry and - not least - China’s railway operators and Ministry of Railways,” says Dion Metzmaekers.
The tactical investment showed its value last year when nkt cables won a number of contracts with the Ministry of Railways to supply advanced catenary equipment for the expansion of China’s rapidly growing rail network. Due to the significance of the orders, the Ministry of Railways requested that nkt cables would enter in a joint venture with the Chinese company Daqo Group Ltd.
