By Marc Bisbal Arias 
 

Uniper SE (UN01.XE) said Wednesday that it hasn't received a takeover approach from Fortum (FORTUM.HE) and isn't in talks with the Finnish company, but will evaluate any forthcoming proposal in the interest of the company and its stakeholders.

Earlier Wednesday, Finnish utility Fortum and Uniper's parent company E.ON SE (EAON.XE) said they were in advanced talks over a 3.76 billion euro ($4.51 billion) bid by Fortum for E.ON's stake in Germany-based energy company Uniper.

Any deal would lead to Fortum making a full public offer to all Uniper's shareholders at EUR22 a share, valuing the entire company at EUR8.05 billion.

In a statement released following the temporary suspension of trading in Helsinki, Fortum said it preferred a "full business combination agreement, including commitments to protect the interests of Uniper's key stakeholders."

Uniper Chief Executive Klaus Schaefer said that "this unsolicited takeover offer is clearly not in line with the strategy of Uniper as recently reiterated publicly."

E.ON has also confirmed that it was in advanced talks with Fortum to sell its stake in Uniper, and that it could tender the shares in early 2018.

Dominic Chopping contributed to this article.

Write to Marc Bisbal Arias at marc.bisbalarias@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 20, 2017 10:20 ET (14:20 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.