Almost three and a half years ago, the RWE green electricity subsidiary Innogy went public with great ambitions. But now the company is counting its last days. Shareholders are upset.
Essen (AP) - The energy group Eon has taken another step forward with the takeover of the RWE grid and green electricity subsidiary Innogy. An Innogy general meeting voted to exclude the remaining shareholders from the company, Eon said.
You will receive a severance payment of EUR 42.82 per share. However, it is expected that individual shareholders will try to seek higher compensation in court. Shareholder representatives had criticized the cash compensation as too low in the almost twelve-hour general meeting.
In March 2018, the energy companies Eon and RWE agreed to divide the RWE grid and green electricity subsidiary Innogy among themselves. In the future, Eon wants to concentrate entirely on the operation of electricity and gas networks and business with customers. In return, RWE receives the renewable energies from Innogy and Eon and wants to become one of the world's leading producers of green electricity. The EU has already approved the deal on a small scale. Eon already owns 90 percent of the Innogy shares.
"From our point of view, this is more of a funeral today," said Thomas Hechtfischer of the German Association for the Protection of Securities, summarizing the mood among the small shareholders. Innogy's very short success story finds "an inglorious end".
It was less than three and a half years ago that RWE launched its daughter Innogy on the stock exchange with great ambitions. At that time, Innogy suddenly became the most valuable German energy company. Innogy promised brilliant growth prospects at that time, but now the shareholders should be "kicked out" and "compensated with a few lumpy euros", shareholder representative Joachim Kregel scolded.
Leonhard Birnbaum, board member of Eon and CEO of Innogy, said that the cash compensation of EUR 42.82 was appropriate from the perspective of a court-appointed expert and was above Innogy's corporate value. Individual speakers asked the board up to 70 detailed individual questions - probably to get material for such a procedure.
According to Eon, the lawsuits can only question the amount of the severance payment. Eon's schedule provides for the transfer of Innogy shares to be entered in the commercial register in mid-April. Innogy can then be removed from the stock exchange. As a precaution, June 18 was reserved for another Innogy general meeting.
The takeover of Innogy by Eon is also linked to a downsizing. According to earlier information, up to 5000 jobs will be lost in the merged company - socially responsible, as Birnbaum again assured. The merger is expected to bring synergies of EUR 740 million in 2022, and EUR 780 million in 2024. That's at the top of Eon's previous announcements.
What megafusion means for consumers is controversial. After all, Eon and Innogy together have more than 13 million electricity and gas customers in Germany. Critics point out that the new Eon will have access to data from many millions of electricity meters, which is a great value in times of the energy transition. Eon boss Johannes Teyssen has emphasized that the electricity business in Germany is largely regulated by the state. Because of the large number of electricity providers in Germany, the competition would not be endangered by the merger either.
