The takeover of a US solar specialist by RWE makes the sovereign wealth fund of the Emirate of Qatar by far the largest shareholder in the Essen-based energy giant. At the weekend, RWE announced the acquisition of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, a "leading operator and developer of solar systems and storage systems in the US market". The group is valued in the transaction at 6.8 billion US dollars (around 6.9 billion euros).

RWE initially wants to use a bridging loan for the takeover. This is to be partially refinanced by issuing a mandatory convertible bond with a total nominal value of almost EUR 2.5 billion and a term of up to one year. The paper will be subscribed to by Qatar Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the Arab Emirate of Qatar. The bond will be converted into new bearer shares in RWE Aktiengesellschaft, which are expected to correspond to almost ten percent of the current share capital.