Fortum Notes Russian Approval for Uniper Stake Buy

By Dominic Chopping

Fortum Oyj (FORTUM.HE) said late Thursday that its acquisition of 20.5% of German energy supplier Uniper SE (UN01.XE) has been approved by the Russian Government Commission for Monitoring Foreign Investments.

Last month the Finnish state-controlled utility company announced plans to acquire all the Uniper shares held by Elliott Management Corp. and Knight Vinke Energy Advisors Ltd. for 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion), bringing its share in Uniper to over 70.5%.

The Government Commission's decision was announced earlier Thursday to Russian media by Igor Artemyev, the head of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service, but Fortum hasn't yet received an official decision from the FAS, it said.

"To Fortum's understanding the details of the decision and the relevant conditions will be clarified by the FAS within approximately 10 days, after which Fortum is in a position to give further details," it said.

The closing of the transactions is also subject to customary merger control clearances in Russia and the United States.

Fortum expects to be able to close the transactions by the end the first quarter of 2020.

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 15, 2019 01:33 ET (06:33 GMT)

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