Siemens AG has plans to open a new factory in Spain for the production of telecommunications equipment. The company considers Spain to be the fifth most important telecommunications market in Europe and wishes to raise its market share as a supplier to around 10%. The German company recently celebrated its 100th year on Spanish soil and although it is a recognised heavyweight when it comes to industrial machinery and railway equipment, it has always lost out to other multinationals, notably Alcatel NV, L M Ericsson Telefon AB and AT&T Corp, in the field of telecommunications. The new plant could be operational by the beginning of 1996 and will involve an initial investment of some $83m. It is thought that a large proportion of production will be destined for abroad, particularly Europe and South America. Its site has not been confirmed, since there is the possibility of expanding existing plants at Getafe or Cornell, or collaborating with another company.
Television transmitter operator
Siemens also has a factory in Malaga, in conjunction with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, for plastic fibre components, and centres in Pamplona and Zaragoza together with Robert Bosch GmbH. Sources at Siemens suggested that the new plant would go ahead regardless of whether the company secures a possible contract with Airtel, which is preparing to launch its digital cellular service later this year. (Ericsson has already won the first contract awarded by Airtel). Siemens will be seeking to gain a foothold in the domestic market, be this through agreements with Airtel or with other clients, such as Telefonica, the autonomous regions and Retevision, the television transmitter operator, which is being groomed to become the second Telefonica in 1998. It therefore comes as no surprise that Siemens has renewed its interest in the leading Spanish telecommunications equipment manufacturer, Amper SA, with a view to acquiring one or more of the companies within the group, especially since the fishing dispute between Spain and Canada has appeared to have excluded Northern Telecom Ltd from any such negotiations. According to El Pais, a delegation from Germany has been visiting Madrid for talks with Indra SA and Telefonica de Espana SA, who hold the largest stakes in Amper, with representatives from the Ministry of Industry present. Amper has just announced a profit of $5.3m for the first quarter of 1995, against losses last time of $1.4m, on turnover up 9.7% at $81.2m, while exports, which represent 24% of overall sales, grew 28.6%. The Spanish company would certainly give Siemens the means to extend its relationship with Telefonica, which provides the Amper group with 40% of all its sales, as well as to make inroads into the burgeoning Latin American market. Siemens was on the point of agreement with the president of Amper, Antonio Lopez, some seven months ago, but met with resistance to breaking up the group as the possibility of a return to profit appeared on the horizon. Subsequently, Lopez was substituted as president, Indra took over from Telefonica as the major partner, and negotiations with Siemens were put to one side. Of the companies within the Amper group, Siemens has always expressed interest in Amper Elasa, specialising in public telephones (annual turnover of $52.5m), but Amper’s management, in line with the interests of the shareholders, prefers to talk about Amper Telematica, the telematics arm, which appears to be on the road to recovery after suspending debt payments last year.
