Against the background of the Russian gas supply stop, the federal government becomes the majority shareholder in Germany’s largest gas company Uniper. As soon as the agreement is implemented, the federal government will hold almost 99 percent of the shares in Uniper.
From the end of the year, Uniper will belong to the German state: the group’s coal-fired power plant near Halle.
(dpa) The federal government, the energy company Uniper and the former Uniper majority owner Fortum have agreed on the extensive nationalization of Uniper. On Wednesday they signed a corresponding stabilization package for Uniper, as the company announced in Düsseldorf. The company reported that it envisages a capital increase and the acquisition of Uniper’s shares from Fortum. The federal government will then own around 98.5 percent of the shares in Uniper.
Definitely not until the fourth quarter of 2022
The state-owned KfW-Bank will provide Uniper with funds according to its liquidity needs, Uniper further reported. This also includes the replacement of a credit line from the Finnish parent company Fortum, which consists of a shareholder loan of EUR 4 billion and a so-called guarantee line of EUR 4 billion. The stabilization measures are still subject to change. Approvals from the EU Commission are still pending. An extraordinary Uniper general meeting is to decide on the measures in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Fortum and the Finnish state drop out
Fortum currently holds almost 78 percent of Uniper. Fortum itself is almost 51 percent owned by the Finnish state. In July, the federal government, Uniper and Fortum had already agreed on a rescue package worth billions. It had already provided for a minority participation by the federal government. On September 14, Uniper announced that the talks about the stabilization package would also include a capital increase that would lead to a “significant majority stake” by the federal government in Uniper.
Uniper is in trouble because Russia is no longer pumping gas to Germany. The gas wholesaler is a supplier to over 100 municipal utilities and large companies and thus plays a central role in Germany’s natural gas supply. The company now has to buy the missing gas from Russia on the gas market at a high price. Most recently, Uniper spoke of daily losses of over 100 million euros.
The greatest rescue operation
In the past, the federal government has supported companies financially on several occasions, for example in the Corona crisis of the airline Lufthansa or the travel provider TUI. Under the pressure of the financial crisis, the state took a stake in Commerzbank in early 2009. Observers assume that the takeover of Uniper by the federal government is the largest rescue operation for a single company in German history.