ZURICH -- Engineering giant ABB said Monday that it would acquire the California company Power One, which specializes in renewable energy such as solar, for a whopping $1.0 billion .
ABB said it would pay $6.35 per share in cash, or a total of $1.028 billion, but stressed that the deal would also allow it to absorb Power One's $266 million cash holdings.
Based in Camarillo, north of Los Angeles, Power One is a leading maker of solar photovoltaic inverters, used to transform the energy captured by solar panels into electrical power.
"Solar PV is becoming a major force reshaping the future energy mix," ABB chief executive Joe Hogan said, maintaining that with its acquisition of Power One, his company would become "a global player" in this space.
Power One, which last year raked in sales of around $1.0 billion, employs some 3,300 people, including in China, the United States, Italy and Slovakia.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
