E.ON Plans to Unload Innogy's UK Business, Denies Further Job Cuts
November 14 2018 - 6:19AM
Dow Jones News
E.ON SE (EOAN.XE) said Wednesday that it plans to sell Innogy
SE's (IGY.XE) business in the U.K. following a merger with its
former rival, but denied speculation that it would cut more than
the previously announced 5,000 jobs in the merger.
In the U.K., Innogy operates a loss-making subsidiary called
NPower, which is currently being merged with the retail business of
Scottish utility SSE PLC (SSE.LN). Through its merger with Innogy,
E.ON inherits a stake in the planned NPower-SSE joint venture.
"We have no strategic interest in this financial investment,"
E.ON Chief Financial Officer Marc Spieker said in a conference call
with journalists.
Regarding speculation about additional job cuts in the planned
merger, he said "I can outright deny that. We are sticking to the
statement we made earlier."
The integration of Innogy's networks and sales divisions will
increase E.ON's workforce to about 70,000 employees. Of these,
5,000 jobs will be cut, but without compulsory or forced
redundancies, the management agreed with unions. From 2022, the
utility eyes saving of between 600 million euros and 800 million
euros ($675.4 million and $900.6 million) a year.
The submission of documents to the competition authorities is
imminent, Mr. Spieker said. E.ON is in "constructive talks" with
the European Union and regardless of whether the officials decide
on a normal or in-depth examination, the company expects the Innogy
deal to be completed in mid-2019, he said.
Write to Barcelona editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 14, 2018 06:04 ET (11:04 GMT)
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