Uniper had received a unilateral and binding offer from EPH through its 100% subsidiary EP Power Europe at the end of 2018
Image: Uniper chief operating officer Eckhardt Rümmler. Photo: Courtesy of Uniper SE.
Germany based energy company Uniper has concluded its negotiations with Czech Republic-based Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH) for the sale of its businesses in France.
Uniper said that both the companies have signed corresponding agreements, and all the necessary approvals for the transaction have been received.
The transaction includes the sale of its French sales business, two gas-fired power plants in Saint-Avold (Lorraine), two coal-fired power plants in Saint-Avold and Gardanne (Provence), the biomass power plant Provence 4 Biomasse in Gardanne and wind and solar power plants.
After the completion of the transaction, Uniper is expected to transfer all of its operations and assets at the France sites including headquarters in Colombes near Paris to EPH.
Uniper received a unilateral and binding offer from EPH at the end of 2018
Uniper said that it received a unilateral and binding offer from EPH through its 100% subsidiary EP Power Europe at the end of 2018 and entered into exclusive negotiations with EPH.
From January 2019, it has carried out mandatory consultation process with the employees’ representative bodies and has started the process to obtain the necessary approval from the European Commission and the approval from the French Ministry for Economy and Finance.
The company has secured approval from the European Commission in May 2019 and from the French Ministry for Economy and Finance at the end of June.
Uniper chief operating officer Eckhardt Rümmler: said: “On the one hand, we are naturally delighted about the successful conclusion of these negotiations. On the other hand, we are parting company with more than 500 qualified employees and part of our corporate history.
“The decision by the French government to close our two coal-fired power plants long before the end of their technical operating lives would have affected our entire business. We therefore had to act entrepreneurially.”
Uniper had announced the initiation of strategic review for its businesses in France in mid-2018.