Fortum Makes Official Takeover Offer for Uniper

Finland's Fortum Oyj (FORTUM.HE) said on Tuesday it would launch an offer for energy company Uniper SE (UN01.XE) after striking a deal to buy parent company E.ON SE's (EOAN.XE) stake.

The offer of EUR22 per share would value Uniper at a total EUR8.05 billion, as reported last week, when Fortum revealed it was in advanced talks with E.ON. Fortum agreed to buy E.ON's 46.65% stake in Uniper, bringing E.ON proceeds of EUR3.76 billion.

Fortum has said it aimed for a "full business combination agreement, including commitments to protect the interests of Uniper's key stakeholders."

Uniper management said last week that the offer wasn't in line with company strategy and it wanted to remain independent.

Fortum tried to reassure the company that it intended to be a long-term investor, as the deal would bolster its energy production and storage abilities in countries aligned with its home markets.

"Fortum fully acknowledges the integrity of existing employee rights and has no intention to cause Uniper to implement forced redundancies in connection with the discussed transaction or for Uniper to change its corporate seat," it said.

The company will launch the offer as soon as it is approved by German finacial watchdog BaFin. It will run for 10 weeks.

E.ON has the right to decide to tender its Uniper stake in early 2018, it said.

Write to Sarah Sloat at sarah.sloat@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 26, 2017 13:42 ET (17:42 GMT)