Exclusive-Potential Uniper buyers include Canada's CPPIB, Czech EPH, sources say

By Christoph Steitz

FRANKFURT, June 2 (Reuters) - Canada's CPPIB and Czech EPH are among the parties expected to formally indicate interest in Uniper next week, four people familiar with the matter said, in a sale that could value the German energy group at over €10 billion ($11.65 billion).

Uniper's sale marks the biggest reshuffle of Germany's utility sector since Berlin bailed it out alongside SEFE for close to €20 billion during Europe's 2022 energy crisis.

Parties have until June 12 to submit letters of interest to UBS and JPMorgan.

Brookfield, Norway's Equinor and France's TotalEnergies are also expected to indicate interest in parts or all of the 74.12% stake in Uniper that Berlin put up for sale last month, the people told Reuters.

The non-binding initial letters of interest will not yet contain a purchase price but general information on the parties, their ownership structure and details on how a deal could be funded, the sources said.

A second round of indicative offers is planned over the summer, the people said, adding a deal could be struck in the autumn. Berlin could also opt to initially sell a stake to an investor and divest more shares on the market later.

Finland's Fortum, once a majority owner in Uniper that had to sell out as part of the bailout, is expected to express interest in Uniper's Swedish activities, which cover hydroelectric and nuclear plants, the people said.

RWE, Germany's biggest power producer and a Uniper competitor, could also join the process at some point, said three of the people, adding that some of the potential buyers could team up at a later stage of the sale process.

Fortum confirmed it would be interested in buying Uniper's Swedish hydro and nuclear assets should they become available.

Vattenfall is also examining Uniper's Swedish assets, which include nuclear power plants co-owned by the two companies, and is reviewing its options, including a possible participation in the sale process, a spokesperson for the Swedish utility said.

Germany's finance ministry, which oversees Berlin's stake, and Uniper both declined to comment. Uniper, CPPIB, EPH, Brookfield, Equinor, RWE and TotalEnergies also declined to comment.

Based on current sector multiples, Uniper could be valued at €8.8 billion to €11.4 billion, which may still be inflated by its net cash position of €4.4 billion, two of the people said.

Strategic buyers aiming to consolidate or only buy certain Uniper assets will likely face opposition from Berlin, which is to retain a blocking minority of 25% plus one share, down from 99.12% currently, the people said.

"The more political constraints, the fewer bidders," said Tibor Fedke, partner at German law firm Noerr.

SEFE, which was also bailed out by Berlin, is holding a sales auction in parallel, three of the people said, adding some of the buyers might choose to join that process.

($1 = 0.8584 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Additional reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff, Jan Lopatka, America Hernandez, Nora Buli and Holger Hansen; Editing by Alexander Smith)