The Spanish investor Asterion is the new owner of the German energy company Steag, with the purchase finalized on Friday, Steag GmbH said.
The takeover of what was once Germany’s largest coal-fired power producer was announced in August.
Asterion announced at the time that it wanted to develop Steag as a whole into a sustainable energy supplier. The price quoted for the takeover was €2.6 billion ($2.87 billion).
Since 2011, the municipal utilities of the German cities of Dortmund, Duisburg, Bochum, Essen, Oberhausen and Dinslaken have owned various shares in the holding company Steag GmbH. They decided to sell the company in 2022 due to the high investment requirements.
Asterion specializes in infrastructure companies, particularly in the energy and telecommunications sectors. For the Spanish company, the Steag acquisition marks its entry into the German market. The European Commission authorized the deal at the end of October.
FILED – View of the headquarters of the Steag energy group. The sale to the Spanish investor Asterion has been completed. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
Steag’s focus is now on the renewable energy business, which operates under the name Iqony. In 2022, the Steag Group generated earnings before interest and taxes of just over €1 billion with a turnover of €5.7 billion. At the end of 2022, it employed a good 5,500 people.
With Asterion as the new owner, Steag has the necessary financial strength to continue the transformation of the company, explained Steag chief executive Andreas Reichel.
In addition to investments in hydrogen, energy storage, photovoltaic and wind energy as well as district heating networks, the aim is to make the power plant sites on the Ruhr and Saar rivers climate-neutral. This is to be achieved through the construction of plants for hydrogen production or new hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants.
According to Reichel, the energy transition is becoming a reality at Steag’s traditional power plant sites. “Iqony will implement many of its decarbonization projects there, such as the construction of climate-neutral gas-fired power plants.” This would also create sustainable prospects for the employees of the coal-fired power plants, Reichel said.
