Germany's Uniper Plans Talks With New Government Over State Exit

Uniper Engages with New German Government on State Stake Exit

By Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff

DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -Uniper is seeking talks with Germany's new government over Berlin's plans to exit the 22 billion euro ($23 billion) utility, which is preparing for a return to the stock market after being nationalised during Europe's energy crisis.

Uniper was bailed out in 2022 when the government injected a total of 13.5 billion euros. Berlin has been preparing to reduce its 99.12% holding as soon as this year, either via a partial or full sale, sources have told Reuters.

The utility, which presented final results for 2024 on Tuesday after publishing preliminary figures earlier in February, did not say whether the change in government following Sunday's election would impact the exit plans.

Under European Union rules, Berlin must reduce its stake to at least 25% plus one share by 2028.

"The decision on Uniper's re-privatisation will be made by our majority shareholder. Uniper will of course quickly seek talks with the newly elected political leaders," Uniper CEO Michael Lewis said at the group's annual press conference.

The group said it would support Berlin's effort for a stake sale on the capital markets, which has been the government's preferred option even though talks about a full sale with potential suitors, including Brookfield and Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, are also being held.

That includes repaying the government 2.6 billion euros in state aid in the first quarter, it said.

Uniper remains in disputes with its former main gas supplier Gazprom of Russia, which first curbed and later suspended deliveries and brought Uniper to the brink of collapse, forcing the German government to step in.

Among other repercussions, the conflict has resulted in a Russian court ruling ordering Uniper to pay more than 14 billion euros to Gazprom, a decision the German company appealed.

Uniper said on Tuesday its affected entities had exhausted all available legal options to overturn the decision.

It confirmed the Russian ruling would allow Gazprom to seize Uniper assets in Russia and possibly outside the country, adding it was determined to defend itself against any enforcement attempts.

($1 = 0.9528 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff; Additional reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Miranda Murray, Ludwig Burger, Tomasz Janowski and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)