German utility E.ON has successfully completed the voluntary public takeover offer to Innogy minority shareholders, it said July 30. As of July 25, 9.4% of shareholders decided to sell their Innogy shares to E.ON. Including RWE's 76.8% stake, E.ON will hold 86.2% upon completion of the transaction, subject to receipt of official approvals. E.ON therefore does not expect completion before the middle of next year.

E.ON CFO Marc Spieker said: “We are very satisfied with the result. The agreed acquisition of RWE's majority stake will already provide us with the necessary means to integrate Innogy into E.ON once the transaction has been completed. We are very pleased that we were able to convince many additional Innogy shareholders of our offer.” Spieker also pointed out that, as expected, some funds could not tender their shares due to internal restrictions, for example index-linked funds that contain Innogy shares.

With the successful result of the voluntary public takeover offer, E.ON now intends to take the next steps towards implementation of the transaction. “We are very pleased that we will soon be able to prepare the integration planning together with colleagues from innogy”, says Spieker. Mid July, E.ON signed an agreement with Innogy to cooperate on the planned integration. “We want to and will work openly, transparently and fairly with Innogy to create together a new E.ON that is fully customer-oriented with intelligent networks and innovative customer solutions. On the one hand, we will continue to leverage the synergy potential of €600mn-€800mn and on the other hand, we will tap growth potential for the new E.ON,” Spieker said.

The deal will see Innogy’s energy retail and network businesses taken over by E.ON, meaning the UK will next year have five major retailers as Innogy owns one of them: Npower. The UK is planning price caps on retail energy bills next year which is expected to hit profits, but the details are yet to be worked out. Gas storage, renewables and Austria assets will be re-absorbed into RWE.