Fortum plans to acquire a majority share in E.ON's subsidiary Uniper (Germany)

The Finnish company Fortum is currently in advanced negotiations with the German company E.ON regarding the acquisition of a 46.65% stake in its subsidiary Uniper. If Fortum reaches an agreement with E.ON, it will then make a voluntary public takeover offer to all shareholders of Uniper under the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (Wertpapiererwerbs- und Übernahmegesetz or WpÜG). As a result, E.ON would have the option to decide to tender its shares in early 2018. However, any potential transaction between the two companies will be subject to the required internal approvals of both parties and at this stage, it is not certain whether these discussions will result in an agreement.



The transaction could potentially amount up to €3.76bn as Fortum is offering €22/share for Uniper, while the whole Uniper assets are valued at €8.05bn. The rationale behind this potential acquisition is Fortum's interest in Uniper’s nuclear and hydropower assets. According to Fortum, the businesses of the two companies are complementary.



Uniper's assets in Sweden mostly consist of hydropower and nuclear assets while its assets in Russia are largely based on gas-fired generation units. In 2016, Uniper's power generation capacity reached 36,893 MW of which 3,721 MW of hydropower, 2,513 MW of nuclear capacity and 30,565 MW of fossil generation capacity.



As of December 2016, Fortum reported 13,334 MW of power generation capacity of which 3,839 MW in Finland, 4,703 MW in Sweden and 4,482 MW in Russia. These figures entail 4,652 MW of hydropower capacity, 3,011 MW of nuclear capacity and 5,242 MW thermal capacity (mostly combined heat and power).





Source: Uniper 2016 Annual Report