Oldenburg, Germany 14 March 2014. EWE AG is planning to purchase Wintershall’s shares in VNG Verbundnetz Gas AG. The two companies today reached a corresponding agreement. Wintershall currently holds 15.79 per cent of
shares in VNG, while EWE holds 47.9 per cent. The transfer of these shares would make EWE the majority shareholder of the Leipzig-based gas transport and trading company. The transaction requires the approval of the competition authorities. It is
also subject to the approval of committees in both companies and of the VNG Annual General Meeting. For the past two years, Wintershall has increasingly been concentrating on upstream operations. Consequently, the company is also getting
rid of its own natural gas storage and trading business.
EWE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Werner Brinker referred to the positive dialogue between the two companies. “The acquisition of the Wintershall shares would give us the opportunity to discuss VNG’s future options with the other shareholders,” he
said, justifying EWE’s purchase of further VNG shares following its intensive efforts to find a buyer for its shares in the company. “It would allow us to expand the scope within which we can act.” He also announced that EWE would now seek to
engage more intensively with all parties involved, among them employees and shareholders of VNG as well as political representatives in the region. “We wish to gain an overall impression of the various points of view so that we can find the best
options for the continued and sustainable development of VNG, and I warmly extend an invitation to participate in this discussion,” emphasised Brinker.
Both companies declined to comment on the purchase price or the time when the share transfer would be finalised, stating that approval from the German Federal Cartel Office and the respective company committees was still pending. The
Annual General Meeting of VNG Verbundnetz Gas AG, for example, must approve the sale of shares from Wintershall to EWE by a majority. Wintershall and EWE jointly hold such a majority.
