The major asset swap between RWE and Eon has completed, with RWE Renewables now taking on Innogy’s operations to make the new company one of the largest renewables players.
The closing of the deal means Innogy’s stake in the Austrian power utility Kelag has also transferred, bringing its hydroelectric business to RWE’s portfolio.
RWE acquired Eon’s renewables activities in autumn 2019, with the integration of Innogy’s operations finalising the transaction.
“We have a wonderful starting point: a huge worldwide renewables portfolio, two teams that complement each other perfectly with many years of experience, and a strong investment programme,” said RWE chief financial officer Markus Krebber.
“This will enable us to strengthen our leading position in the market even further.”
RWE said it plans net investments of approximately €5bn in Europe, North America and Asia/Pacific, in order to enlarge its existing renewable energy portfolio to over 13GW.
€1bn of this sum is envisaged for projects in Germany. Currently RWE’s renewables generation capacity, including hydropower and biomass, stands at approximately 10GW.
In the course of the takeover about 2700 employees are transferring from Innogy to RWE.
The complex asset swap sees both RWE and Eon transform from vertically integrated utilities, with RWE’s focus shifting to power generation and expanding renewables while Eon has taken the electricity networks and retail side of the business.
The swap saw Eon first fully acquire Innogy, which held RWE’s power distribution and renewables assets, before Eon and Innogy’s combined renewables businesses have now been passed to RWE.
RWE has also acquired a stake in Eon as part of the swap.
In May German renewable electricity retailer Naturstrom and ten other independent German electricity suppliers launched judicial review proceedings at the European Court of Justice, claiming the merger would significantly reduce competition.