FRANKFURT/HELSINKI (Reuters) -Uniper on Friday received 15 billion euros ($15.2 billion) in guarantees and equity as part of a bail-out by the German government after becoming the biggest casualty so far in the European energy crisis.
As part of the deal, the German government will take a 30% stake in Uniper. Uniper’s Finnish parent Fortum will end up holding 56% in the German firm, down from around 80% currently.
“We are living through an unprecedented energy crisis that requires robust measures,” Fortum CEO Markus Rauramo said, adding the deal reflected the interests of all parties. “We were driven by urgency and the need to protect Europe’s security of supply in a time of war.”
Uniper, Fortum and the German government will work on a long-term stable solution to reform the company’s wholesale gas contract architecture, which has exposed the group to billions of losses in the wake of falling Russian gas supplies.
The parties intend to agree on the solution by the end of 2023, they said.
($1 = 0.9847 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Essi Lehto; Editing by Maria Sheahan, Kirsti Knolle)
