Kommunale Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG (KSBG) has sold its stake in the energy company STEAG GmbH, Essen/Germany, to the Spanish infrastructure investor Asterion Industrial Partners. The boards of the owners have given their mutual consent to this and the contract has been signed and notarised accordingly (signing). The transaction volume amounts to approximately 2.6 bn €. This amount corresponds to the enterprise value for 100 % of the shares in STEAG. After deduction of the liabilities, the consortium will still receive a substantial amount. The net inflow to the former owners is also still dependent on STEAG’s 2023 annual result. The sales process (closing) is expected to be completed by December 2023.
STEAG comprises the two business units STEAG Power GmbH and Iqony GmbH. STEAG Power operates hard coal-fired power plants at six locations in Germany. Its share of total electricity generation in Germany is around 5 %. Iqony offers solutions for the decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalisation of energy supply. Iqony focuses on renewable energies and bridging technologies that can also be used in a climate-neutral way in the future. In addition to solar, wind and geothermal energy, the portfolio also includes hydrogen solutions, storage technologies, engineering services and modern gas-fired power plants that will be climate-neutral in the future through the use of hydrogen.
The municipal utility consortium KSBG initially took over 51 % of STEAG in 2011 and the remaining shares in 2014. At the time, the company was facing major economic challenges. After a successful restructuring and realignment of STEAG, however, the owners would have faced a considerable need for further investment. In view of this development, the owners had decided to sell the company in 2022. In a bidding process lasting several months, Asterion prevailed with the economically best offer. Moreover, the declared goal is to preserve STEAG as a whole. In coal-fired power generation, STEAG’s power plants continue to make an essential contribution to ensuring security of supply in the Federal Republic of Germany and Europe. Further growth is expected for the future technologies bundled in Iqony. (KSBG/Si.)
