Steag Bids May Include Thuega, Allianz, Macquarie Funds-Sources
July 09 2010 - 1:15PM
Dow Jones News
Thuega AG and infrastructure funds run by Allianz SE (ALV.XE)
and Macquarie Group Ltd.(MQG.AU) are separately eyeing a potential
deal to acquire parts of Evonik Industries AG's Steag unit,
according to two people familiar with the matter.
Czech energy company CEZ Group and a consortium of western
German municipal utilities were already indicated as potential
bidders. Steag is one of the largest energy producers in Germany
and is part of Evonik's larger business portfolio, which consists
of energy, speciality chemicals and real-estate operations.
Management presentations were completed last week and further
due diligence is set to begin shortly, the people said.
Evonik said earlier this year that it wanted to maintain a
majority stake in Steag but continues to gauge interest from
potential bidders who might consider taking more than a minority
share in the Essen-based company, sources said.
An initial sales prospectus for Steag suggested that Evonik was
open to offers for a majority in its energy business or bids for
individual assets, a person familiar with the matter previously
told Dow Jones Newswires.
A spokeswoman for Evonik said the company had received a number
of bids and still wanted to maintain a majority stake in Steag, but
wouldn't comment on potential buyers.
The open approach to selling Steag assets underlines the
difficulty Evonik could face in selling its less attractive assets,
such as its German coal power plant operations, people said.
In an initial bidding round in May, potential buyers showed most
interest in Steag's Turkey-based power plant and renewable energy
operations, but received little interest for the German coal power
business. Steag's total value is seen at more than EUR5 billion,
according to one person familiar with the matter.
U.K. private equity company CVC Capital Partners Ltd. owns
around 25% of Evonik. The remainder is owned by Germany's RAG
Foundation, the state-controlled coal mining foundation. The
company, which is active in the chemicals, energy and real-estate
industries, was spun off from RAG and renamed Evonik in 2007.
Spokesmen for Thuega and JP Morgan, which is advising Evonik,
declined to comment, as did spokeswomen for CVC and Allianz. A
spokesman for RAG and a spokeswoman for Macquarie weren't
immediately available for comment
-By William Launder, Dow Jones Newswires; +49(0)6929725515;
william.launder@dowjones.com
(Martin Rapp in Duesseldorf and Jan Hromadko in Frankfurt
contributed reporting.)
Allianz Ag Muenchen Namen (PK) (USOTC:ALIZF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Allianz Ag Muenchen Namen (PK) (USOTC:ALIZF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024