Suez withdraws bid for British Energy

The French energy company, Suez has announced the withdrawal of its bid for British Energy.

The French energy giant revealed that the bid had failed due to unsuccessful plans to merge with Gaz de France, which is a gas supplier in the hands of the government of France. Suez had emerged one of the top ten possible bidders for British Energy which would have given it control over nuclear power generating stations in the United Kingdom.

Currently the nuclear energy sector is being touted as an attractive investment since the government is in full support of a new generation of nuclear power generating stations to avert possible electricity shortages in the future.

The exit of Suez from the bidding of British Energy has made it more clear over who is likely to emerge the winner in the end. Gaz de Francewhich is an electricity monopoly in France, is rumoured to have promised to fork out eleven billion pounds including for the purchase of the government shares which comprise thirty five per cent of the total shareholding. EDF is presently thought to be shopping for a partner.

Another possible winner is Centrica, which owns British Gas. But the one thing going against it is that there are competition worries surrounding it. Then there is RWE from Germany. RWE is the owner of Npower in the United Kingdom and is believed to be considering a partnership with Scottish & Southern Energy. The Spanish energy giant Iberdrola which owns ScottishPower has also expressed interest in British Energy and would most likely team up with RWE.

www.british-energy.com