The former head of the E.ON business in the United Kingdom, Michael Lewis, is to succeed Klaus-Dieter Maubach, who resigned from the Management Board at the end of February, Uniper announced on Wednesday after an extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board. The formal appointment of the manager should take place shortly. His contract will run for a period of five years. "Uniper is facing major challenges, but above all huge opportunities when it comes to shaping the energy transition," explained Lewis.
Lewis' employer E.ON emphasized that the Group regrets the planned departure of the manager. At the same time, E.ON is convinced "that Uniper has made an excellent choice in him", said E.ON CEO Leonhard Birnbaum. E.ON is "in constructive talks with Uniper in order to reach an agreement on a suitable transfer date". A successor for Lewis is already being sought.
Uniper Supervisory Board Chairman Tom Blades attested to Lewis' "expertise, vision and passion". Lewis knows many Uniper employees from their shared past at E.ON, as Uniper emerged from the energy group's former power plant division and trading business, which it spun off in 2016. He has held various positions at E.ON since 2007, where he was also responsible for renewable energies. He is currently responsible for the business in the UK. His selection was also well received by Uniper employees. "We are getting (...) an experienced CEO for whom the interests of the workforce are important," said Group Works Council Chairman Harald Seegatz. Lewis is also "an energy manager who stands for future issues and the green transformation".
Gas importer Uniper had got into difficulties due to Russia's gas supply freeze and had to be saved from imminent bankruptcy by the public sector with billions in aid. The federal government eventually took over Uniper. Lewis has a lot of work ahead of him after taking office at the group, which accumulated a net loss of 19.1 billion euros last year. According to management estimates, Uniper could face further losses in the gas business. However, the Group is to start afresh under the umbrella of the federal government. "The task of the new Management Board and Supervisory Board will be to further develop Uniper and make it profitable again," said former CEO Maubach. "Security of supply and decarbonization will form the guard rails - because they are two sides of the same coin."
(Report by Matthias Inverardi and Tom Käckenhoff, edited by Myria Mildenberger. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).
