Monday April 7, 11:10 AM
European power groups mull British Energy takeover: report
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LONDON (AFP) - German power firm RWE (Xetra: 703712 - news) and EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) of France are in separate discussions with British group Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) about possible takeover bids for British Energy (LSE: BGY.L - news) , the Financial Times reported on Monday.
The FT, which did not cite its source, said although the talks were at an early stage, they demonstrated that the struggle for control of Britain's biggest power generator was gathering pace.
The government is currently contemplating the sale of its 35.2-percent stake in the company.
British Energy, which owns and operates eight nuclear power stations and one coal-fired power station, provides nearly 19 percent of the electricity used in Britain.
An alliance with Centrica, which owns British Gas, would help EDF or RWE win control of British Energy because it would allay concern about nuclear power generation passing into foreign ownership, the paper said.
Iberdrola (Madrid: IBE.MC - news) of Spain and Germany's E.ON were also interested in British Energy and are following the matter closely, it said.
British Energy has a current stock market capitalisation of 7.6 billion pounds (9.6 billion euros, 15.0 billion dollars).
Before the weekend, France's La Tribune newspaper had reported that EDF might bid for the group.
When asked about the report on Friday, an EDF spokesman said the company had contacts with all the British energy players as part of its efforts to play an active role in the British nuclear power programme.
EDF is the biggest producer of nuclear energy in the world.
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