RWE CEO confirms interest in buying Germany's Uniper

Nov 2 (Reuters) - RWE RWEG.DE CEO 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 declined to comment. KKR did not immediately respond to a request for 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.