EnBW buys stake in MVV

Karlsruhe. The EnBW Group and the E.ON Group have agreed on the takeover of a 15.05% holding in Mannheimer Energieunternehmen MVV by EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG. This heralds a new phase of growth and future-oriented planning in the core business area for Germany's third-largest energy supplier following a wide-ranging divestment programme. "The acquisition of a financial holding in Germany's fifth-largest electricity supplier is taking place at a favourable point in time and sends an important positive signal both to the capital market, our shareholders and customers and to all our employees within the Group. The structural streamlining phase at EnBW has been successfully completed. The EnBW Group has regained its full ability to act strategically and plan effectively for the future faster than originally planned. We are now once again strengthening our operations in our core business field. This is a nice Christmas present for all those who have worked so hard and so successfully on restructuring during the last 18 months", says EnBW CEO Prof. Dr. Utz Claassen. Following its review, the antitrust authorities did not file any objections to the acquisition of MVV shares by EnBW.

MVV implemented a wide-ranging restructuring programme in the last business year and has made major write-downs on holdings and discontinuing operations in the recent past. When announcing the publication of the preliminary MVV figures on November 23, 2004 MVV CEO Dr. Rudolf Schulten said that all MVV risks have been processed in the company's financial statements. Following this restructuring programme, EnBW views its northern neighbour as an attractive financial investment with a healthy potential for development. "Our financial holding in MVV lays the foundation for a long-term relationship between two companies who will be good neighbours and fair competitors," is how Prof. Dr. Utz Claassen describes the new situation.