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German RWE says UK'S decision won't stop DEA divestment

The headquarters of German power supplier RWE are pictured in the German town of Essen March 6, 2012. REUTERS/ Ina Fassbender

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German utility RWE said on Sunday the sale of its oil and gas unit DEA to Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman would go through on March 2, despite a British move to block part of the deal. The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced on Saturday that it was not willing to provide a comfort letter for the change of control of the UK business of RWE DEA. RWE said in a statement that its agreements with Fridman's LetterOne-Group in January meant the DECC decision would not affect the completion of the transaction set for March 2. "These agreements provide for a transfer of the entire RWE DEA group including the UK business," the statement said. "Only if the EU or the U.S. impose sanctions on LetterOne or its owners prior to the first anniversary of the completion, will RWE have to re-acquire the UK business," it added. (Reporting by Jonathan Gould)