VIAG Group

VIAG Aktiengesellschaft (Vereinigte Industrie-Unternehmungen Aktiengesellschaft) was a major German industrial conglomerate founded on March 7, 1923, as a state-owned holding company headquartered initially in Berlin and later in Munich. The company emerged from industrial enterprises accumulated by the German Reich during World War I, primarily in the aluminum, chemicals, and energy sectors. VIAG operated as a pure stock holding company managing over 100 subsidiary companies, with core business divisions including aluminum production through Vereinigte Aluminium-Werke AG (VAW), electricity generation via Bayernwerk AG, and chemical manufacturing through SKW Trostberg AG. The company underwent gradual privatization, beginning with a 40% public offering in 1986 at 165 DM per share, followed by complete privatization in 1988 when the federal government sold its remaining shares at 210 DM per share. By the mid-1990s, VIAG had consolidated its position as one of Germany's ten largest industrial companies with consolidated revenues of 42 billion DM, expanding into telecommunications with the acquisition of Germany's fourth mobile phone license marketed as VIAG Interkom in 1997. The company's strategic evolution culminated in a landmark merger with VEBA AG in September 2000, forming E.ON AG in a €13.4 billion transaction that created Europe's largest listed power generation company. The merger represented a strategic consolidation aimed at building global market strength in the energy sector while divesting non-core industrial assets, with VIAG's energy holdings integrated into E.ON and other divisions like VAW subsequently sold to Norsk Hydro in 2002.