Exclusive-Brookfield, CPPIB consortium enters next round in Uniper sales process, sources say

By Christoph Steitz

FRANKFURT, Nov 13 (Reuters) - A consortium consisting of Brookfield <BAM.N> and CPPIB is among suitors that have advanced to the next stage to buy German state-owned utility Uniper, according to three people familiar with the process.

A spokesperson for the consortium declined to comment.

Bidders, including Norway's Equinor, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's EPH and a consortium consisting of KKR and RWE, submitted indicative bids for Uniper in September and have been awaiting feedback from the German government.

Suitors were informed about the next round on Friday, a separate source said.

Berlin is currently seeking to reduce its stake in Uniper to a blocking minority, either via a sale to a strategic or financial player or by selling shares via a so-called re-IPO in a deal that could value the firm at up to €14 billion ($15.4 billion) if net cash is included.

The energy firm, Germany's biggest gas importer, was bailed out by the German government in 2022 for €13.5 billion to save it from collapse after former main supplier Gazprom suspended deliveries of the fuel in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Equinor as well as the KKR and RWE tie-up have also advanced to the next round, which would result in a binding bid, two of the people said.

One of the people said EPH had not been invited to the next round.

Germany's finance ministry, which oversees Berlin's 99.12% stake in Uniper, and EPH were not immediately available for comment.

Equinor, KKR and RWE all declined to comment.

($1 = 0.9065 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Additional reporting by Michael Kahn and Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Louise Heavens and Nick Zieminski)