Germany’s E.ON inks sale of fossil fuels stake
FRANKFURT: Germany energy giant E.ON said it has agreed to sell its remaining stake in fossil fuels spinoff Uniper to Finland’s Fortum Oyi in early 2018.
Fortum will offer all Uniper shareholders 22 euros ($25.90) per share, valuing E.ON’s 46.65 per cent holdings at 3.76 billion euros ($4.4 billion), the German group said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The two groups had announced last week that they were seeking a deal.
Under the terms of the agreement, if E.ON decides not to sell its stake after all, it will buy up all the shares Fortum acquires during the offer and also pay compensation to the Finnish firm.
But E.ON has made clear that it wants to dispose of its remaining stock in Uniper — which owns all its traditional gas- and coal-fired power stations — early next year.
“We welcome Fortum’s offer as an opportunity for Uniper shareholders to sell at a valuation level that reflects Uniper’s strong performance since its spin-off,” E.ON Chief Johannes Teyssen said.
EON, one of Germany’s four largest energy companies, spun off its coal and gas power plants into Uniper in 2016 before floating it on the Frankfurt stock market.
The parent company has retained control of its gas and electricity grid businesses, renewable plants and customer service.
E.ON booked charges of 11 billion euros in its accounts for last year as it wrote down the value of the fossil fuel assets.
The group’s move came as energy utilities face tough choices during the government-spurred “energy transition” from fossil and nuclear generation to renewables. Executive