Deutz completes deal to acquire stake in Blue World Technologies

Deutz continues to expand its activities in alternative powertrains: the due diligence of Blue World Technologies was completed a few days ago, leading to the purchase of the first of two tranches. The purchase of the second tranche is expected to follow in the first half of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. Deutz will be investing a total of €7.5 million to take an 11.91% stake in the company. Blue World, which is based in Aalborg, Denmark, develops, manufactures, and sells fuel cell stacks, reformers, and systems. The collaboration is centered around an exclusive agreement for the distribution and servicing of stationary fuel cell gensets that will be powered by methanol. 

“The investment in Blue World Technologies, is a perfect fit for our sustainable growth strategy,” says Deutz’s CEO Frank Hiller. The investment of Deutz made together with an investment of Vaektsfonden, the Danish Growth Fund, will allow Blue World to set up further automated handling processes throughout production over the course of 2022. These will increase its production capacity with a view to commencing volume production toward the end of next year. 

Frank Hiller says: “At the Deutz Days in November we unveiled our new ‘Green’ reporting segment to the public. We also presented the Blue World products to our customers. The interest we have been able to generate from this event has been overwhelming. Fuel cells that run on ‘green’ methanol will enable a faster transition to carbon-neutral operation because this is a liquid fuel compatible with existing infrastructure. Deutz is thus making further headway with new technologies that will move it beyond the conventional engine to offer climate-neutral solutions for the off-highway segment. The Blue World investment is another step along the way to achieving the growth target for our ‘Green’ segment.” 

“Our collaboration with Deutz has been kicked off very well, and we have experienced a strong interest from the Deutz partners in our methanol fuel cell technologies”, Anders Korsgaard, CEO and Co-founder of Blue World Technologies explains and continues: “Within the last couple of years, we have seen global market leaders invest heavily throughout the methanol value-chain, from production to utilisation. With the increasing focus on the production of green methanol, the timing for this collaboration between Deutz and Blue World is perfect”.