Invensys has sold its Hansen Transmissions subsidiary to a German investment company, Allianz Capital Partners (ACP), for €132m in cash. Hansen, whose headquarters are in Belgium, manufactures gearboxes and drivetrains, particularly for use in wind turbines, as well as for general industrial applications.

For the year to the end of March, Hansen reported an operating profit of £2m on sales of £88m. No redundancies are expected among Hansen`s 900 staff, which include 28 at its UK operation in Huddersfield.

Invensys chief executive Rick Haythornthwaite says that the sale is "another successful step towards the creation of an Invensys made up of six attractive retained businesses, and further reduction of our debt".

Hansen Transmission`s chief executive Matts Lundgren, declares that the takeover "supports our current growth strategy". He adds that ACP will "provide us with the financial resources to enable us to strengthen our leading position in a rapidly growing market".

In 1969, Hansen was bought by Thomas Tilling, which was itself taken over by BTR, which later combined with Siebe to form Invensys. For a while, Invensys merged Hansen with its Brook Crompton motors business as Brook Hansen, but separated them before selling Brook Hansen to Singapore-based Lindeteves Jacoberg in 2002.

The sale of Hansen is expected to be completed by the end of July, provided that there are no anti-trust objections.