Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUniper and Sefe, bailed out by Berlin, attract investors. Germany plans to reduce stakes by 2028, aiming for economic growth.
By Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Energy firms Uniper and Sefe, which were bailed out by Berlin during Europe's energy crisis, are seen as attractive assets by potential investors, Germany's economy minister said on Wednesday.
Her comments were made at an investor conference on German energy and infrastructure in Frankfurt, where around 50 institutional investors representing more than 10 trillion euros ($11.6 trillion) in globally invested capital gathered.
The conference, led by state-backed lender KfW, is the second such event and aimed at drumming up investor interest in Europe's largest economy, which has contracted in the two past years, with only modest growth expected for 2025.
Berlin spent around 20 billion euros to stabilise both Sefe and Uniper in 2022 after gas supplies from Russia were curbed and later stopped, and under an EU deal Berlin must lower stakes in both groups to a maximum of 25% plus one share by 2028.
"I note with interest that both companies are considered interesting and attractive," Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said at the summit, which was also attended by Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing and senior executives at KKR, Norges Bank Investment Management, Apollo and Munich Re's investment arm MEAG.
"I cannot say whether or with which investors we are talking about the matter," she said, adding that Germany had become a magnet for large energy investors.
Under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Germany has embarked on a massive investment push to revive its economy, most notably by earmarking up to 1 trillion euros in funds and potential borrowing for defence and infrastructure.
That, Reiche said, would provide tailwind to Berlin's forecast of gross domestic product growth of 1.3% and 1.4% in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
"That is certainly still below our capabilities ... but it would be a start."
($1 = 0.8593 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz. Editing by Miranda Murray and Mark Potter)
Corporate governance refers to the systems, principles, and processes by which a company is directed and controlled, focusing on the interests of stakeholders.
Investment is the act of allocating resources, usually money, in order to generate income or profit, often involving the purchase of assets.
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