German utility E.ON SE has closed the purchase of a 76.8% stake in Innogy SE from RWE AG, after securing approval from the European Commission earlier this week.
E.ON said Sept. 18 that it also expects to close the voluntary public takeover offer to Innogy's minority shareholders by the end of next week. By the end of the acceptance period in July 2018, 9.4% of shareholders had decided to sell their Innogy shares to E.ON.
The utility will ultimately hold 90% of all Innogy shares at the close of its voluntary public takeover offer, including also the 3.8% stake it acquired on the stock exchange. E.ON plans to become the sole owner of its rival through a "merger squeeze-out."
"The completion of the takeover of Innogy is the decisive step in the realignment of our company," said E.ON CEO Johannes Teyssen. "As a customer-focused innovation driver, we will soon be able to focus systematically on our core businesses — intelligent power distribution networks and customer solutions."
The Innogy deal is part of a complicated asset swap between E.ON and RWE.
