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Steag coal-fired power plant in Duisburg-Walsum: Belongs to the »black« part of the company
Photo: Bernd Thissen / dpa
The energy company Uniper recently showed how important it can be for the public sector to control the energy supply.
In order to secure the supply of gas, the federal government put together an aid package worth billions and got involved with 30 percent.
There were times when the mayors of North Rhine-Westphalia, who are behind the Steag Group, tried to attack the coal compromise.
Now the municipal owners of the fifth largest German energy company Steag want to separate from their company.
In what is probably the biggest crisis for the energy supply in Germany, the financially mixed cities apparently see a good opportunity to get out of the otherwise troubled group for a long time.
Worth more than two billion euros?
The municipal investment company KSBG, in which six municipal utilities from the Ruhr area have bundled their Steag shares, and Steag have decided to start a sales process, a Steag spokesman said.
The aim is to sell Steag as a whole and not in parts.
The "Handelsblatt" had previously reported on it.
The Stadtwerke Duisburg, Dortmund, Bochum, Essen, Oberhausen and Dinslaken have bundled their Steag shares in the holding company KSBG.
KSBG has been the sole shareholder of the company since 2014.
According to the »Handelsblatt«, an investment bank is to be mandated shortly.
Potential bidders for the Essen-based supplier are to be approached in the autumn.
The company could be valued at more than two billion euros in a deal.
According to the report, however, there is little interest for the entire group.
Therefore, the possibility of a partial sale is being explored at the same time.
So-called terminal value investors could be considered as possible buyers for the entire company.
They could take over Steag cheaply and make a bet on making enough profit with the income until the coal activities are finally shut down, the newspaper wrote.
Last year, the energy company with its around 5,700 employees increased sales by a good 37 percent to almost 2.8 billion euros.
In the operating business, the result (EBIT) increased by a fifth to 234 million euros.
In addition to the coal-fired power plants, the "black" part of the company, Steag also operates "green" wind and solar systems.
In addition, there are waste incineration plants and energy services.
Like its competitors, Steag is also confronted with price fluctuations and market turbulence, triggered by the reduction in Russian gas exports to Europe and the tense global energy markets as part of the recovery after the corona crisis.
Apr/Reuters