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Hedge fund Elliott Administration has taken a stake of practically 5 per cent in RWE, calling for the German vitality group to “considerably improve and speed up” its share buyback programme.
RWE, one in every of Europe’s largest energy producers with a big renewables portfolio, final week introduced it could slash €10bn in capital expenditure on inexperienced applied sciences over the following 5 years because the Trump administration’s opposition to offshore wind provides threat to renewables investments.
Elliott, which has been constructing its stake in RWE since not less than final 12 months, stated on Monday that it had constructed an financial curiosity of shut to five per cent within the group.
It’s the US activist investor’s newest vital place in a European vitality firm after its high-profile stakebuilding at London-listed BP, which it has been pushing to pivot away from inexperienced vitality.
Elliott welcomed final week’s announcement by RWE that it could cut back its outlay on renewables, calling the transfer “an vital first step in direction of extra disciplined capital allocation”. However it criticised RWE’s “lack of readability” on its dedication to boosting shareholder returns and stated the corporate remained undervalued.
“Given the introduced capex discount and RWE’s persistent undervaluation, we consider there’s a compelling alternative to considerably improve and speed up the continued share buyback programme,” Elliott stated in an announcement.
RWE had made vital bets in renewable vitality however has been scaling them again since Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory. Two years in the past, the group had spent virtually $7bn buying Con Edison Clear Power Enterprise, which operates photo voltaic and wind tasks within the US.
Shares in RWE have gained 3 per cent over the previous 12 months, and have gained about 9 per cent to this point in 2025. The group has a market capitalisation of about €24bn. The shares rose 2.5 per cent in early buying and selling on Monday.
RWE final week reported 2024 earnings of €5.7bn. The group additionally reaffirmed its mid- to long-term earnings targets regardless of decrease capital expenditure.
In February, Elliott took a stake of virtually 5 per cent in struggling oil main BP, the place it’s pushing for a renewed concentrate on oil and gasoline. Earlier this month it took a €670mn quick place in French vitality firm TotalEnergies, a transfer that could be a hedge in opposition to its lengthy positions within the sector, in keeping with an individual aware of the matter.
