In July 2003, West German regional utilities Elektrizitatswerk Wesertal, Pesag and EMR signed an agreement to merge and rebrand themselves as E.on Westfalen-Weser. Eon Energie would have a 63 per cent stake in the Paderborn-based utility, with the remaining holding shared between 39 municipal councils. Eon Westfalen-Weser would be one of Germany's ten biggest regional suppliers, with [euro]1 billion annual energy sales to 650,000 customers.