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Innogy’s general counsel Claudia Mayfeld will continue to provide legal support for the planned asset swap between RWE and Eon before her departure next year.
Innogy, which is a subsidiary of RWE, said Mayfield will be leaving at “her own wish”.
She has agreed to a request from the executive and supervisory boards to remain with the company until 30 June 2020 to assist with the “structural measures” being taken within the framework of the German transaction.
If approved, the deal will see RWE trade its 76.8 per cent interest in Innogy for a 16.67 per cent stake in Eon, its renewable portfolio and €1.5 billion in cash.
Last month Eon said the deal is “right on schedule” and expected to receive full regulatory approval in the second half of 2019.
The Competition and Markets Authority approved the deal in spring and now the transaction awaits the green light from the European Commission.
Mayfeld is general counsel and head of legal and compliance at Innogy SE, having had the same job function at RWE AG from 2013, where she played an “essential role” in shaping the initial public offering (IPO) of Innogy SE.
She is also responsible for all legal aspects involved in the major asset swap.
A qualified lawyer, who has been with RWE AG/Innogy SE for 28 years, Mayfeld is also a member of the supervisory board of Süwag Energie AG and a member of the executive board of the Pensionsfonds e.V. pension fund.
She also has “many years” of operational experience in the Renewables division, where she was responsible for providing legal support during the construction of offshore and onshore windfarms in Germany and abroad.
For eight years, she also headed up the Corporate Law, M&A and Stock Market Trading departments as well as being deputy head of the entire legal department of RWE Supply and Trading GmbH, which bundles the energy trading business of RWE AG.
In this role, she led several international arbitration proceedings, closed many international gas supply contracts and set up a programme to standardise all international trading agreements.
Uwe Tigges, chief executive of Innogy SE said: “We deeply regret that Claudia Mayfeld is leaving our company after so many years. At the same time, we welcome the fact that, together with her team she will continue to be by our side until 2020.
“Claudia Mayfeld has proven her outstanding worth to our company over a period of many years, especially in particularly difficult times such as the takeover situation, the closing of the general agreements with RWE and Eon as well as the preparation of the integration measures. I would like to emphasise in particular in this regard the successful IPO of Innogy SE in 2016, which Claudia was a key driver of in her double role as general counsel of RWE AG and Innogy SE.
“We are losing not only an excellent general counsel with a deep business knowledge of the group, but also a person who has been a constant role model, both at a personal and professional level. Personally and on behalf of the executive board, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Claudia for her valuable contribution throughout all these years.”
RWE’s asset swap with Eon will transform the German energy giant into a “renewables supermajor” according to RWE Generation chief commercial officer Tom Glover.
Last week he told Utility Week that renewables will provide around 60 per cent of its annual earnings following the transaction.
Meanwhile a collective bargaining agreement for “future and job security” was recently reached in Germany ahead of the deal.
Speaking at Innogy’s annual general meeting in April, Tigges said the continued difficult market conditions for Innogy’s UK retail business, Npower, are a reality the company does not want to “ignore”.
Npower was given the green light to merge with SSE’s retail arm SSE Energy Services but the two companies called off the deal late last year due to “adverse developments” in the retail market and “regulatory interventions” such as the price cap.
Tigges said Innogy had a “good plan” for Npower, which “came close” to being achieved.
The chief executive said the last 12 months have also been marked by the announcement of the takeover of Innogy by Eon and RWE. He reassured stakeholders the deal is a positive move and said it is important Innogy is at the “negotiating table”.
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