EWE to acquire a 100 per cent stake in swb
City of Bremen to sell a further 25.1 per cent to EWE
Oldenburg/Bremen, Germany, 22 June 2009. The Oldenburg-based energy Group EWE has welcomed the decision by the city of Bremen to sell more of its shares in swb AG to the company. The city of Bremen announced today its intention to sell 25.1 per cent of its stake in swb to EWE as part of another sale of shares, which will result in EWE acquiring all but one share in swb. The remaining share will be retained by the city of Bremen. The city of Bremen and EWE had already agreed in April to EWE acquiring 25.9 per cent of the swb shares that would potentially become available. They had also agreed at this time to possibly increasing the stake to 100 per cent (minus 1 share). The sale of the shares is conditioned on the final decision regarding the merger of RWE and Essent and requires the approval of the German competition authorities (Bundeskartellamt).
"There are three beneficiaries of this decision: the two companies and the Bremen-Oldenburg region," emphasised Dr. Werner Brinker, CEO of EWE. The partnership will provide swb and EWE with many opportunities for development. In addition, expertise and value creation will be kept in the region. The decision by the city is a result of the excellent cooperation between it and the two companies in recent years and also shows its commitment to the sustainable development of the region. Dr. Brinker praised the constructive cooperation with the political decision-makers in the city of Bremen. "In the coming months we, together with swb, will be looking more closely at the areas of cooperation and possibilities for future collaboration," added Dr. Brinker.
"Closer cooperation between these two strong companies in the future will lead to good prospects for them, their employees and the region. Additionally, it is a partnership from which both sides will benefit," pointed out Dr. Willem Schoeber, CEO of swb AG. swb's main aim is to bring its expertise in the areas of electricity generation and waste disposal to the partnership. "As a company which is both financially sound and strong in the region, EWE is an ideal partner for the joint implementation of swb's future-oriented strategy," explained Dr. Schoeber.