Rolls-Royce Completes Siemens Deal, Hungarian Firm Set Up

Following a period of employee consultations, Rolls-Royce has completed the acquisition of the electric and hybrid-electric aerospace propulsion activities of Siemens (formerly known as the eAircraft business). As a result of the transaction, Rolls-Royce has established a subsidiary in Hungary, employing about 100 engineers taken over from Siemens.

"The timely execution of the deal, announced in June this year, underlines that these activities fit our strategy to ‘champion electrification’ and will help accelerate our ambitions as we look to play a major role in the ‘third era’ of aviation," a press release by Rolls-Royce points out.

According Rob Watson, Director of Rolls-Royce Electrical, “we are very pleased with the rapid execution of the necessary legal and procedural steps to complete this acquisition. We are welcoming our new colleagues into Rolls-Royce today and look forward to working with them to pioneer new technologies and solutions.”

The former Siemens business, based in Germany and Hungary, employs around 180 specialist electrical designers and engineers who have been developing a range of electric and hybrid electric propulsion solutions for the aerospace industry. They will continue to work in their existing locations.

The team from Siemens was already well known to Rolls-Royce as the two companies have been working together on the E-Fan X demonstrator program and the company is now the owner of a business that has already made significant strides toward the increased electrification of aviation.