RWE CEO confirms interest in buying Germany's Uniper (updated)

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Nov 2 (Reuters) - RWE RWEG.DE Chief Executive Markus Krebber confirmed on Monday that the German energy group is in the race to take over its 99% state-owned rival Uniper UN0k.DE.
Asked at the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi whether RWE, together with KKR KKR.N, had submitted a non-binding bid for Uniper, Krebber said: "It sounds right"
A person with direct knowledge of the matter had told Reuters that a KKR and RWE consortium had made a bid
RWE and KKR declined to comment
Krebber had said in August that RWE had no interest in acquiring Uniper, in which Germany holds a 99.12% stake
Uniper was nationalised during the 2022 energy crisis, saving it from imminent bankruptcy
The German Finance Ministry has previously announced its intention to float up to 74.12% of Uniper on the market and is exploring both a sale and an initial public offering 
Several parties have submitted bids, Reuters previously reported, including Czech energy firm EPH, Norwegian utility Equinor EQNR.OL and private equity firm Apollo Global Management APO.N, as well as a consortium of investment firm Brookfield BN.TO and Canada's CPPIB

(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Writing by Linda Pasquini; Editing by Alexander Smith)
((linda.pasquini@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 7785261;))