OREANDA-NEWS. E.ON successfully separated its operations from Uniper’s effective January 1, 2016. From the new E.ON campus in Essen, the company will now focus on renewables, energy networks, and customer solutions. Uniper will operate independently from its headquarters in D?sseldorf. Uniper’s businesses—conventional power generation (hydro, natural gas, coal) and global energy trading—remain essential for ensuring the security of the energy supply. E.ON has therefore reached another important milestone in the execution of its new strategy. The spinoff of Uniper is expected to take place later in 2016 following the approval of E.ON shareholders.

E.ON announced just over a year ago that it would respond to the distinctly different challenges of the new and conventional energy worlds by dividing its businesses into two companies. “This liberates us from continually having to make compromises. Our ambition is for both companies, which soon will be legally independent of one another, to become leading players in their respective energy worlds,” E.ON CEO Johannes Teyssen emphasized.

The clarity and decisiveness of E.ON’s strategy remain unmatched. “Rather than just changing our organizational setup, we’re spinning off our conventional-generation and energy-trading businesses to form a company, called Uniper, that will become something completely independent,” Teyssen said. He added that this would give both E.ON and Uniper the best prospects to become leaders in their respective spheres: “Separating these businesses, which were formerly managed together, will make both companies more agile and sharpen their profile for customers and investors.”

Uniper CEO Klaus Sch?fer said: “Economic prosperity is and will continue to be fueled by energy. The global population is growing and so is its consumption of energy, which people take for granted. Ensuring that people have a secure and cost-effective supply of power and gas will remain a crucial task. That’s what Uniper is all about.”

Uniper has balanced generation portfolio consisting of roughly 40 gigawatts of dispatchable capacity. Going forward, this portfolio will continue to play a key role in the transformation of the energy systems in many countries. Uniper also has a strong position in global energy trading. “Hardly any other European company has a comparable power and gas portfolio and knows global energy flows and the success factors in this business as well as we do,” the Uniper CEO emphasized.

By separating its businesses as planned on January 1, E.ON took an important step in implementing its new corporate strategy just over a year after it was announced. The next key date in the timeline is the general meeting this June at which shareholders will be asked to approve the Uniper spinoff. The spinoff would then take place in the second half of 2016 when E.ON divests a majority stake in Uniper and lists the company’s shares on the stock market. E.ON intends to part with its remaining stake over the medium term.