Five Banks Support Stadtwerke Konsortium Rhein-Ruhr on Acquisition of Majority Stake in STEAG
Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hanover, Munich – On December 18, 2010 Stadtwerke Konsortium Rhein-Ruhr signed a syndicated loan facility for the acquisition of 51% of the shares of STEAG. Stadtwerke Konsortium Rhein-Ruhr is a consortium consisting of seven municipal utilities located in North Rhine Westphalia: Dortmunder Energie- und Wasserversorgung (DEW21), Dortmunder Stadtwerke AG (DSW21), Stadtwerke Bochum GmbH, Stadtwerke Dinslaken GmbH, Stadtwerke Duisburg AG, Stadtwerke Essen AG and Energieversorgung Oberhausen AG (EVO).
Five German financial institutions committed a facility with a medium three-digit million euro volume to the acquiring company KSBG Kommunale Beteiligungsgesellschaft GmbH und Co. KG. The complex acquisition facility is tailored to the unique needs of the Stadtwerke Konsortium and is structured in four tranches with maturities between two and five years.
Bayerische Landesbank, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale and WestLB AG acted as underwriter, bookrunner and mandated lead arranger. WestLB also operates as documentation agent, security agent and paying agent.
The composition of the bank group underlines the strong position of the involved financial institutions in structuring tailor-made large acquisition facilities in Germany and their leading role in financing municipal enterprises.
On December 13, 2010, Stadtwerke Konsortium Rhein-Ruhr had won the bidding contest against four other bidders. With this acquisition the consortium advances to become the fifth largest energy producer in Germany and reduces its mid-term dependence on the large energy producers.
Upon closing of the acquisition, Stadtwerke Konsortium plans to further develop STEAG into the largest municipally operated energy generation platform in conventional as well as in renewable energy generation.