E.ON Welcomes Fortum's Uniper Bid

E.ON said in the evening of September 26 it has reached agreement with Finnish energy group Fortum according to which E.ON has the right to tender its stake in German commodity trader and generator Uniper in the course of a public takeover offer by Fortum in early 2018.

Fortum and E.ON signed an agreement earlier on September 26 under which E.ON has the right to decide to tender its Uniper stake into the offer in early 2018 at the same total value per share as offered to all shareholders. Should E.ON exercise its right to tender, the total value received by E.ON for its 46.65% Uniper stake would be expected to be €3.76bnn. The agreement further provides that, if E.ON does not tender its Uniper stake, Fortum will have the right to sell to E.ON any Uniper shares acquired in connection with the offer and in addition receive a compensation payment from E.ON.

Fortum said separately that the offer price is €22 per share, as signalled last week. It values 100% of Uniper at €8.05bn.

'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.” said E.ON CEO Johannes Teyssen: "We consider Fortum as a responsible and reliable strategic partner to Uniper, with excellent complementary businesses and capabilities. The transaction would allow us to meet our declared intention of fully divesting our stake in Uniper in 2018."

Uniper declared the takeover offer unwelcome last week and said it had not been consulted about it. 

Mark Smedley