By Dominic Chopping

Finnish energy group Fortum Oyj said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its stake in Uniper SE to the German state in a move aimed at securing energy supply in Germany.

Uniper was Germany's largest importer of Russian natural gas until recently but suffered heavy losses after Moscow cut supplies in recent months and was forced to buy gas on the market where prices have hit record highs.

The German state in July pledged to take a 30% stake in Uniper and extended credit lines as part of a bailout package, but Wednesday's deal will replace that agreement, with Germany underwriting an 8 billion euro ($7.98 billion) capital increase and buying Fortum's stake for around EUR500 million.

Upon completion of the capital injection and share purchase, the German state will own around 98.5% of Uniper.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2022 02:19 ET (06:19 GMT)

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