Deal Announcement 07/21: Energy

The Deal

The German PwC Deals Energy Team is pleased to announce the successful sale of MAXENERGY GmbH & MAXENERGY Austria Handels GmbH to erdgas schwaben gmbh.

MAXENERGY GmbH & MAXENERGY Austria Handels GmbH were the German and Austrian B2C energy retail subsidiaries of Sailer Verwaltungs-GmbH. As part of the succession plan for the owner of Sailer Verwaltungs-GmbH, PwC Deals Energy was assigned as Lead M&A Advisor to ensure an efficient execution of the sale process of the two energy retail subsidiaries.

In the course of a structured and competitive investor process, all shares of MAXENERGY GmbH & MAXENERGY Austria Handels GmbH have been acquired by the German regional utility erdgas schwaben gmbh. 

The share purchase agreement was signed in February 2021 and the transaction was closed in July 2021.

MAXENERGY GmbH & MAXENERGY Austria Handels GmbH

MAXENERGY GmbH was founded in 2008 with focus on the German market. In 2014, MAXENERGY Austria Handels GmbH was founded to enter the Austrian market. Together, both companies supplied around 100k B2C & SME customers with electricity and natural gas.

Sailer Verwaltungs-GmbH

Sailer Verwaltungs-GmbH focuses on the acquisition, sale and holding and management of investments in the energy sector.

erdgas schwaben gmbh

erdgas schwaben gmbh is headquartered in Augsburg (Germany) and is the largest regional energy supplier in Swabia and Allgäu in terms of area. Currently, more than 200 cities and municipalities are connected to the 6,800 kilometres of gas pipelines. 

erdgas schwaben gmbh offers gas, biogas, electricity, bioelectricity, hydrogen and contracting. The Thüga group, which is the main shareholder of erdgas schwaben gmbh and comprises roughly 100 companies, is the largest network of municipal utilities in Germany. Across Germany, the Thüga group supplied 7.5 million customers with electricity, gas, and water services in 2019. 

Owned by major German municipal utilities such as Mainova AG (Frankfurt am Main), enercity AG (Hanover) or N-ERGIE AG (Nuremberg), Stadtwerke Augsburg GmbH, the second shareholder of erdgas schwaben gmbh, is the third largest municipal utility in Bavaria and supplies 350k customers with electricity, natural gas, district heat and water.

PwC

The global PricewaterhouseCoopers network is a worldwide association of independent auditing and consulting companies which together employ more than 280,000 people in 157 countries. Our global network comprises nearly 1,600 M&A professionals all over the world, realising approx. 400 successful transactions per year. We specialize in a wide range of independent M&A services including advice on acquisitions and disposals, mergers, public takeovers, privatizations as well as structured financing.

PwC Deals Energy

The German Deals Energy Team was set up in 2019 and is headed by Steffen Apfel. It combines M&A expertise with in-depth energy sector know how and has trustful relationships with relevant decision makers in the energy industry.

PwC Deals Energy acted as Lead M&A Advisor to Sailer Verwaltungs-GmbH on this transaction. The transaction was led by Steffen Apfel (Partner) and Reinhard Rümler (Senior Manager) and supported by Axel Reinert (Senior Associate).