RWE, LetterOne Sign Contract For RWE Dea Sale

(RTTNews) - German utility RWE AG (RWEOY) and LetterOne Group have signed a contract for the sale of RWE Dea AG at an enterprise value of around 5.1 billion euros. The enterprise value includes around 0.6 billion euros in assumed liabilities. The deal will be subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board of RWE and of authorities in several countries.

Mikhail Fridman, Chairman of LetterOne, said: "We believe Dea has an attractive business portfolio and is led by a successful management team. As a responsible investor, we want to drive the company's international growth, enhance performance while preserving Dea's core strengths, including its German base."

Peter Terium, CEO of RWE AG said, "This is an excellent solution both for RWE AG and for RWE Dea. We have come to know the investors as reliable partners and I am delighted that they intend to establish Dea as a platform for their future Group's oil and gas activities."

RWE Dea is one of Germany's major oil and gas exploration and production companies, with international activities and a gas storage business in Germany. RWE Dea is part of the RWE Group, with is one of Europe's five leading electricity and gas companies.

The key core regions for RWE Dea include Egypt and Libya in North Africa as well as the U.K. and Norway in Europe. RWE Dea is also engaged in the Caspian Sea region.

On March 16, RWE announced the plan to sell its oil and gas production unit, RWE Dea AG, to L1 Energy.

L1 Energy is the the energy investment vehicle set up by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group in June 2013. L1 Energy is focused on opportunities in the global oil and gas sector by building a diversified portfolio of upstream assets through acquisitions and subsequent organic growth.