RWE chief Markus Krebber confirms bid with KKR for state-owned Uniper

RWE chief executive Markus Krebber has confirmed that Germany's largest power producer is in the race to buy Uniper. Asked on stage at the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday whether RWE and the private equity firm KKR had submitted a non-binding bid for Uniper, Krebber replied: "It sounds right", Handelsblatt and Der Standard reported.

The remark is the first public confirmation from one of the bidders. In August, Krebber had said RWE had no interest in buying its Düsseldorf-based rival. RWE did not want to comment on Krebber's remarks, and KKR was not immediately available for comment, according to Der Standard, which cited the Austrian news agency APA.

What is for sale

The German state rescued Uniper during the 2022 energy crisis, when the collapse of Russian gas deliveries left the gas importer facing insolvency. The federal finance ministry now manages a 99.12% stake, according to the APA report. The government has said it wants to bring up to 74.12% to market, which would leave the state with a blocking minority of just over 25%.

Berlin has been exploring both a direct sale and an initial public offering. A sale to a strategic buyer and a financial investor would be one of the largest energy deals in Germany in years, and it would reshape the country's power and gas market.

Who else is said to be interested

According to insiders cited in the APA report, several other parties have also submitted non-binding offers. They include Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský's EPH group, Norway's Equinor and Apollo Global Management, while Canada's pension fund CPPIB and Brookfield are said to have made a joint offer. None of these parties has publicly confirmed a bid, and the government has not named bidders.

Why RWE changed its tone

RWE has not explained the shift from its August statement. Krebber's answer was brief and the company declined to add to it. Pairing with KKR would, however, let RWE share the cost of a large purchase with a financial partner. Uniper owns gas-fired and hydro power plants, gas storage and a large gas trading business, assets that matter for Germany's security of supply as coal and nuclear plants close.

A deal would also raise obvious competition questions. RWE is already Germany's biggest electricity generator, and any deal would need clearance from competition authorities as well as political approval from the federal government as seller.

What it means for European founders and investors

For investors, the confirmation turns market talk into a contested process with at least one strategic bidder openly involved. That makes a trade sale more likely than a pure IPO, though Berlin can still choose a listing if bids fall short.

Private capital is following European energy security. KKR, Apollo, Brookfield and CPPIB are all reported to be looking at Uniper, in line with a wider trend of large funds buying into European infrastructure. Apollo, for example, has just launched a European Credit Company with more than €10 billion of lending capacity.

Grid and generation remain a growth market for suppliers. Whoever owns Uniper will need to invest in flexible generation and storage. That matters for startups selling software, storage and grid technology to utilities, as shown by deals such as GE Vernova's acquisition of Trench Group.

State exits are back. After years of crisis-era rescues, European governments are starting to sell stakes again. How Berlin handles Uniper will be watched as a test case for other state holdings.

What happens next

Non-binding offers are typically followed by due diligence and binding bids. The finance ministry has not published a timetable for the next round, and the final decision on a sale or an IPO rests with the federal government.

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