Apollo Joins $11.5 Billion Race for Germany’s Uniper
Apollo Global Management has submitted a non-binding offer for Uniper, the German gas and power group that Berlin took into state ownership during the 2022 energy crisis, according to people familiar with the process cited by Reuters. The U.S. private equity firm joins at least four other bidding groups in a sale that could value Uniper at around €10 billion ($11.5 billion), one of Europe’s largest utility deals this year.
Five groups chasing one German gas giant
Alongside Apollo, the field of interested parties includes Czech energy investor Daniel Kretinsky’s EPH, a consortium of Brookfield Asset Management and Canada’s CPPIB, Norway’s state-controlled Equinor, and a pairing of private equity firm KKR with German utility RWE. Apollo, Uniper, KKR, RWE and Equinor all declined to comment when approached by Reuters. Indicative bids were due September 21, and people close to the process say Berlin and its advisers expect to narrow the field within the coming weeks.
From €13.5 billion bailout to a 2028 EU deadline
The German government took control of Uniper in 2022, injecting €13.5 billion ($15.1 billion) to keep the company solvent after Russia cut pipeline gas supplies and Uniper was forced to buy replacement volumes on the spot market at a steep loss. That rescue left Berlin holding 99.12% of the company. Under the terms of the European Commission’s approval of the bailout as state aid, Germany committed to reducing its stake to a blocking-minority position by 2028, and the government now plans to divest up to 74.12% of Uniper, either through a direct sale or an initial public offering that is reportedly also being weighed as an alternative route. Berlin has recouped about €3.5 billion of its outlay so far through dividends and repayments.
What a sale would mean for European gas security
Uniper remains one of Europe’s largest buyers and traders of natural gas and a significant operator of gas-fired power plants, making its ownership structure a live question for the continent’s energy security as it continues rebuilding supply routes after losing Russian pipeline gas. A sale to a financial buyer such as Apollo or the Brookfield-CPPIB consortium would mark a return to private ownership for a company that has, since 2022, operated as a de facto arm of German energy policy; a deal involving RWE, by contrast, would consolidate Uniper’s gas assets alongside one of Germany’s other dominant utilities. The decision also lands against a backdrop of tighter European gas and diesel markets this winter, with Brussels already revisiting its gas-storage rules and regional gas prices under renewed upward pressure.
What’s next
With indicative bids already in, the next milestone is Berlin’s decision on which suitors advance to a second round, expected within weeks rather than months. The government has not said whether it will favor a clean sale over an IPO, and the 2028 EU deadline leaves room for the process to run through at least one more funding cycle. Any transaction would still need regulatory clearance given Uniper’s size in German and European gas markets.
Sources
- Reuters, reported via Global Banking & Finance, “Apollo Submits Non-Binding Bid for German Energy Firm Uniper,” Oct. 7, 2026 — globalbankingandfinance.com — bidder list, valuation, stake and timeline details, sourcing on company declines to comment.
- Seeking Alpha (citing Reuters), “Apollo latest to submit non-binding bid for German energy firm Uniper,” Oct. 7, 2026 — seekingalpha.com — corroboration of bid and bidder field.
- OilPrice.com, “Apollo Joins $11.5 Billion Race for German Gas Giant Uniper,” Oct. 7, 2026 — oilprice.com — additional corroboration.
Illustrative image. Photo: Christian A. Schröder (ChristianSchd), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source
