* Fortum to pay 2.3 bln euros for activist stakes
* Move would bring it closer to full ownership of Uniper
* Uniper shares down 7.9%, Fortum down 2%
(Adds Uniper comment, details on chairman role)
By Anne Kauranen and Christoph Steitz
HELSINKI/FRANKFURT, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Finnish utility Fortum
is set to gain control of Germany's Uniper
by acquiring the stakes of activist funds Elliott and
Knight Vinke, potentially ending a long-running deadlock over
ownership of the group.
State-controlled Fortum has been seeking control of the
energy firm since 2017, but Uniper's top management had opposed
a full takeover, warning it could result in a break-up and
threaten the firm's credit rating.
If approved by regulators, the agreement between Fortum and
the two activist funds would simplify the complex ownership
structure that has made resolving the stand-off difficult.
Uniper's fleet of coal- and gas-fired power plants,
providing round-the-clock baseload energy supply, are a key
addition to Fortum's existing assets, mainly in hydroelectric,
nuclear and combined heat and power generation.
Renewable power has become a major focus for energy groups
worldwide, but with generation tending to be intermittent and
storage difficult, fossil fuels are still needed in the mix.
"While we are focused on leading the transition to cleaner
energy, we also understand that we have to meet the needs of our
customers in terms of security of supply and affordability,"
Fortum Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark said.
"That's where Uniper comes in, because we can't just
fast-forward to the future."
As part of the deal, Fortum would pay 29.93 euros per share
for the combined stake of more than 20.5% held by the two funds.
This equates to a price of 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) and
will raise Fortum's Uniper stake to more than 70.5% from 49.99%.
Uniper said it was analysing the matter, with a view to
finding the best solution for "Uniper employees, our business
and customers, our shareholders and partners".
Knight Vinke and Elliott declined to comment.
Shares in Uniper fell 7.9% to 27.63 euros per share after
Fortum said it would rule out any domination agreement, profit
and loss transfer agreement or squeeze-out of minority
shareholders for at least two years.
Fortum's stock fell 2%, burdened by fears that a deal could
put its credit rating at risk.
RUSSIAN HURDLE
"It has been Fortum's preference to agree with Uniper on a
joint path forward, yet discussions have each time ended short
of actions," Fortum said, though it added that talks with
Uniper's management over the past months have been "very
constructive".
Fortum said it was convinced that the change in Uniper's
ownership structure and the resolution of the complex
relationship would bring stability and return its focus to
business matters.
The agreement still needs to be cleared by the United States
and Russia. Russian regulators have so far capped Fortum's
ownership in Uniper at 49.99% due to a strategic water licence
operated by the German firm's local subsidiary Unipro.
Lundmark told analysts that discussions with Russian
regulators over the past months have "led us to believe that
there is a solution available to the issue".
"We would not have taken this step unless we (were) quite
confident that an approval could be obtained." he added.
Fortum said it had made a preparatory filing to the Russian
Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), and said it expected the
transaction to close by the end of the first quarter of 2020.
"Uniper's Russian water business is likely to be a key area
of concern where countermeasures may be necessary," Bernstein
analysts said.
An FAS spokesman said the regulator had been notified about
Fortum's bid to buy Uniper, but did not provide further details.
Hoping to win over workers, Fortum also pledged to honour
all existing collective bargaining agreements at Uniper, and
said it would not cause the German group to implement forced
layoffs or relocate its headquarters away from Duesseldorf.
However it also demanded the right to take over the
chairmanship of Uniper's supervisory board, which is currently
held by former E.ON executive Bernhard Reutersberg,
if the deal succeeds.
Fortum said it would fund the deal with existing cash
resources and credit facilities underwritten by Barclays
.
($1 = 0.9111 euros)
(Additional reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki in Gdansk, Arno
Schuetze in Frankfurt, Tom Kaeckenhoff and Matthias Inverardi in
Duesseldorf and Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow; Editing by
Edmund Blair, Jan Harvey and Louise Heavens)