Doosan Heavy buys Czech turbine firm

       South Korea's Doosan Heavy said yesterday it had agreed to buy Czech turbine maker Skoda Power for 450 million ($654 million) to better compete with bigger rivals such as GE and French engineering group Alstom.
       "Skoda Power and Babcock will help us actively target European and US markets... and better compete with global leaders such as GE, Siemens and Alstom,"Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction said in a statement.
       Doosan Heavy estimated that the acquisition, which it wants to complete within two to three months, would add 5.3 trillion won ($4.33 billion) in sales in 2020.
       The addition of the 150-year-old turbine maker, which sells products in over 60 countries, would also help it complement its power generation and engineering business as Doosan has resorted to foreign rivals such as GE to secure turbine technologies.
       Doosan Group has grown in business portfolio and scale through acquisitions.Its flagship unit Doosan Infracore Co bought the world's top compact construction equipment firm, Bobcat, and two other units from US conglomerate Ingersoll-Rand for $4.9 billion in cash in 2007.