RWE looking at Uniper's gas and coal-fired plants - source

DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - RWE (RWEG.DE) is casting its eye over rival energy utility Uniper's gas and coal-fired power plants in Germany, the Benelux countries and in Britain, a person familiar with the matter said.

Investors and M&A sources said last week that RWE was likely to buy the plants from Fortum (FORTUM.HE), which is planning to take control at Uniper with a proposed 8.05 billion-euro ($9.5 billion) offer, rather than launch a counterbid.

While Fortum has said it has no plans for a restructuring, it is seen being mainly interested in Uniper's assets in Sweden and Russia and less in its more polluting gas and coal fired power plants, which would be a better fit for RWE.

RWE and Uniper declined to comment on Monday.

German daily Handelsblatt on Friday quoted Fortum Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark as saying that the Finnish company was not currently in talks to sell parts of Uniper.

(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Kathrin Jones, Greg Mahlich)