Report: EdF to bid for British Energy

04 April 2008

The board of Electricité de France has given the 'green light' to launch a takeover bid for British Energy (BE), according to La Tribune. The French newspaper attached a figure of £6.7 billion ($13 billion) to the potential move, based on British Energy's current share price. The news comes two weeks after reports in Die Welt that the German utility RWE could bid to take the UK government's 35.2% stake in BE. At the same time, BE made a formal notification that it was in negotiations over at least 1% of the business and the government said it was keeping ownership of its stake "under review." BE has been in discussions with many European utilities over potential partnerships for new nuclear build in the UK, which is a government priority.