Uniper warns of total wipeout without German rescue

Germany's Uniper called on Monday for shareholders to approve a bailout and nationalisation that will cost the government more than 50 billion euros ($53 billion), warning that it will otherwise have to consider insolvency.

Germany's Uniper called on Monday for shareholders to approve a bailout and nationalisation that will cost the government more than 50 billion euros ($53 billion), warning that it will otherwise have to consider insolvency. Chief Executive Klaus-Dieter Maubach told a virtual extraordinary shareholder meeting that the disarray caused by the loss of gas supplies from Russia could leave shareholders with nothing if they did not accept German proposal.

Russia's Gazprom was once Uniper's biggest supplier of gas, but a big drop in deliveries after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine forced the German gas importer to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices to honour its contracts. Uniper's investors will vote on two main measures at Monday's meeting, an 8 billion euro capital injection by the German state and allowing a further injection of up to 25 billion euros by Berlin.

"(The measures) are indispensable for this company's future," Maubach said. "If approval is not granted, we would have to review very critically the so-called going concern forecast for our company," he added. "In the Management Board's view, a possible insolvency could lead to a complete loss for shareholders."

Maubach said Uniper currently had access to around 2.5 billion euros of funds. If the bailout is approved, the German government will end up owning just below 99% of Uniper, Germany's largest gas trader, following two share issues. Germany's Finance Ministry will be responsible for the stake, Uniper said on Monday.

Current majority shareholder, Finland's Fortum, will exit as a result, though it will retain the right to make an initial offer for Uniper's Swedish nuclear and hydro assets by end-2026, should the company decide to sell those. Uniper said it currently has no plans to do so.

The loss of Russian gas, Moscow's retaliation for Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, triggered a 40 billion euro net loss for the importer, which provides around a third of Germany's gas, the largest loss in German corporate history. ($1 = 0.9450 euros)

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