The state-owned gas importer Uniper is moving ahead with its plan to return the company to private ownership. Reports from the “Handelsblatt”, citing multiple insiders and confirmed by the company itself, indicate that Uniper is organizing a capital markets day in a few weeks to inform potential investors about a possible public listing. This capital markets event is scheduled to take place in London on November 16. According to Uniper, invitations for the day were dispatched to investors on Wednesday afternoon. In addition to considering a stock exchange listing, the Federal Ministry of Finance is simultaneously preparing to sell individual company shares to either single investors or business consortia.
A privatization process is also underway at Sefe, another gas importer that the government nationalized following the war in Ukraine. Mirrored after Uniper, the state is obliged to divest approximately 75 percent of its shares in Sefe by 2028.
The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs has stated that it is currently seeking out strategic investors who can help advance the company and the energy supply across Germany and Europe. Furthermore, the ministry noted that it is “very possible” that the state could retain a share in the company at the conclusion of the process, complete with specific rights.
