Germany wary of heat pump business sale to US group

Germany’s economy minister said Wednesday Europe’s largest economy must not lose out from the sale of a heat pump maker to a US rival, as competition in the sector increases.

US group Carrier Global said Tuesday it had agreed to purchase German group Viessmann’s core climate business for $12 billion (10.9 billion euros).

The purchase of the German business was a “game-changing opportunity” to expand in Europe as governments look to decarbonise the housing sector, Carrier CEO David Gitlin said in a statement.

But the sale raised concerns that Germany could lose out in the race to develop and make the technologies needed for the green transition.

The Viessmann deal showed that Germany remained attractive to investors, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.

But he stressed that “what is important is that the advantages of our energy policy and the profits that are generated con-tinue to benefit Germany”.

The government is in talks with both parties in the deal “so that the project serves our economy”, the Green party minister said.

Demand for heat pumps is expected to rise as governments promote them as a greener alternative to fossil fuel-powered boilers.

Habeck’s ministry has pushed proposals to progressively ban the installation of new oil and gas heating from 2024.

The transition plans have caused ructions in Germany’s three-way coalition government, dividing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, the pro-business FDP and the Greens.

The agreed sale showed how a “hasty and complicated” energy transition could have “a negative impact on the German economy”, FDP general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai told financial daily Handelsblatt.

It was a “shame” to see a family-owned business from Germany’s Mittelstand such as Viessmann end up in US hands, the economic spokeswoman from the opposition conservatives (CDU/CSU) Julia Kloeckner told the Funke media group.

The planned boiler ban made takeovers of German companies more attractive to outside investors, Kloeckner said, adding that strong partnerships were needed for the domestic industry to remain competitive