Uniper has tentatively begun investor education for a possible re-IPO, conducting early-look meetings this month, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The meetings with potential investors took place in London, ahead of a 21 September non-binding offer (NBO) deadline for possible M&A bidders, the sources said.

Investor sentiment for the state-owned energy behemoth was positive, two of the sources, who are working on the equity sale track, said. The business is already listed, so much of the important information required by investors is known, they noted.

If a re-IPO is pursued, the secular tailwind of energy security and transition will be a key theme of its equity story, one of the sources said, reflecting a previous report by this news service.

Unsurprisingly, the success of a re-IPO would come down to the valuation, they added.

It would try and and follow the precedent of the re-IPO of OHB, with a large capital markets day before any launch, this source added.

OHB conducted a re-IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in June 2026 through a EUR 900m institutional placement, allowing for KKR to sell down its stake, alongside a capital raise, while the Fuchs family retained majority control.

The space technology business executed its re-IPO on a pre-money valuation of EUR 5.7bn, at a discount of 26% to its thinly traded share price.

Uniper’s market capitalisation currently stands at EUR 20.74bn. Applying a 26% discount would take that to EUR 15.35bn.

“The current share price is irrelevant,” one of the sources said. Even at such thin volumes, given the free float is just 0.88%, it is a mystery who would buy at current levels, he added. Fair value would be at a low-teens EV/EBITDA multiple, he added.

Uniper has guided for FY26 EBITDA of EUR 1.1bn-EUR 1.3bn. At the midpoint, a 13x-15x valuation would sit at EUR 15.6bn-EUR 18bn.

M&A on track

Project Libertas, the codename for the M&A track of the Uniper sale, proceeds at pace, with several bidders still expected to place non-binding offers on 21 September, two of the sources noted.

Norwegian state-backed energy company Equinor is seen as especially well positioned at this early stage of the auction, the sources added. Financing the acquisition would be relatively easy for Equinor, which has a market capitalisation of nearly NOK 1tn (EUR 92bn) and could redeploy capital from monetising part of its 10% holding in Danish offshore wind giant Orsted, one of the sources added.

Equinor would also likely pass any foreign direct investment screening Berlin undertook, this source added.

Other parties expected to bid include a consortium of Brookfield and CPP Investments, as well as various other sponsors and large institutional investors: Apollo Global, Ardian, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and GIP; and strategics EPH (owned by Czech investor Daniel Křetínský), Fortum, Jera, TotalEnergies and Vattenfall, according to a various reports.

Other strategic bidders, in consortium with financial investors, are expected to table offers, two sources noted.

Strategic consortium interest could be hampered by the German government’s intention to keep the business from fragmentation, with few sector peers interested in acquiring the entirety of the business.

The German government nationalised Uniper in 2022, amid the energy crisis following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reaching an agreement with the European Commission under its state aid framework to reduce its holding to a maximum of 25% plus one share by 31 December 2028. The government is committed to retaining that shareholding, a spokesperson for the German Ministry of Finance confirmed to this news service earlier this month.

That would leave the government in control of a blocking minority, likely limiting the potential bidder pool, this news service has reported.

The M&A track is being led by JPMorgan and UBS on behalf of the government, with Goldman Sachs advising the company. Roland Berger is providing the government with strategy advice, as reported.

Deutsche Bank and Citi are mandated, alongside UBS, to explore the IPO track, as reported by this news service.

The German finance ministry directed queries to Uniper, which declined to comment. Equinor did not respond to requests for comment.