Octopus pledges all Italian assets
UK group offers Italian assets as collateral to German supplier Uniper
by Cheo Condina
The Italian business of the British energy tech giant Octopus is in hock to the German Uniper and thus, albeit indirectly, to the German state, since the Dusseldorf-based company was bailed out and nationalised by Berlin in 2022, at the height of the Russian-Ukrainian gas crisis.
What might appear to be a minor detail is actually not, given the stormy times in the energy sector, with the prices of electricity and gas returned on the rollercoaster, but also in light of Octopus' own expansion ambitions in Europe and Italia.
In our country, a little more than three years after its launch, the British brand - increasingly well-known thanks to its pink octopus and competitive offers, too much according to some insiders - has reached800,000 customers, yet accumulated losses of more than 50 million (offset by the parent company).
The international crossover of shares and pledges originated in May 2025, when Uniper and Octopus announced an agreement to supply electricity and gas, as part of the British group's expansion into the markets of Germany, Italia and Spain.
The agreement covered a wide range of products, and in fact allowed Octopus to source from Uniper to meet the demand of its customers, including possible credit support agreements in the three countries.
