Consortium led by Dalmore in talks to buy stake in UK’s £6bn nuclear power stations
A consortium is in talks to buy a 20 per cent stake in the UK’s nuclear power stations.
Dalmore, Equitix and GLIL Infrastructure are the funds closing in on a deal for a share in the power stations, which are valued at about £6bn, according to Sky News.
Read more: Energy group Wood to sell nuclear arm for £250m
A deal would see British Gas-owner Centrica and EDF Energy reduce their stakes in the business, which used to be called British Energy.
An agreement could be reached within a few weeks, Sky News reports, although there could be further delays after regulators had to temporarily shut down a number of sites.
The power stations provide around a fifth of the UK’s electricity and a deal would see the consortium, led by Dalmore, pay £1.2bn for the 20 per cent share.
It would leave Centrica with a 10 per cent stake in the business and French state-owned utility EDF with a 70 per cent share.
It would also mean the remaining 20 per cent is owned by Korean investors due to their investment in Dalmore-backer funds.
The potential deal comes amid growing demand from consumers and businesses and increased scrutiny following last month’s outage that left thousands without power across the country.
A number of the stations are currently due to be decommissioned over the next ten years as they begin to age.
EDF owns all of the UK’s existing nuclear power stations and wants to extend the lives of several of them by multiple years.
Read more: EDF seeks guarantee for nuclear project
The French utility bought British Energy for £12.5bn in 2008, while Centrica acquired its 20% stake for £2.25bn the following year.
Centrica, EDF and members of the consortium declined to comment.