In total the amount expected to reach EUR 15

Acquisition of British Energy, press conference, second. The scene is to play this morning at the Armenonville Pavilion, in the Bois de Boulogne, will probably be an air of déjà vu for Pierre Gadonneix. As he was already preparing to do so on July 31, the CEO of the French electrician will today announce the acquisition of the first British electricity producer, the most important transaction in the history of EDF. The last time, EDF had to cancel his presentation on the night following the rejection of the shareholders deprived of British Energy (BE)...

This time is good. "It did not repeat the error to our Board of Directors prior to their", says a source at EDF. The French group received written assurance that the Council BE recommended this offer to its shareholders. In other words, two rebel funds, Invesco and M & G (subsidiary of Prudential), that control respectively 15 and 7 of the capital of British society, abandoned their resistance and have rallied to the British Government, which owns 35 of BE.

To convince them, EDF had to make a small effort. From sources close to the record, the group focused its offer cash 765 to 774 pence per share. The joint offering provides 700 pence per share in cash and the other party in titles as certificates of guaranteed value (CVG), have also been revised upward. BE shareholders will indeed receive a larger share of the future of the company profits if it manages to sell its electricity at higher prices than originally planned. In total, the amount expected to reach EUR 15.7 billion.

Historic operation

Through this historic operation, EDF wants to be in the front line to participate in the revival of nuclear power in the United Kingdom. BE brings eight power plants in operation and the agreement negotiated with the Government of Gordon Brown gives the possibility of building 4 EPR on nearby land of existing plants. The Habs electrician, will become the largest producer of electricity across and will achieve synergies with its local subsidiary, EDF Energy, lack of capacity to serve its customers. To give a local colour to the transaction, the group led by Pierre Gadonneix should propose to the British Centrica (parent company of British Gas) to recover in second part of the capital of BE, probably around 25. The price of the transaction is the subject of discussions between the two groups. Centrica, which badly lack of production capacity, should also benefit from drawing on the power plants to BE rights. For its part, EDF could benefit a same device on the part of Centrica in Belgium, via its subsidiary SPE.

Despite the strategic motives of the operation, questions remain, including internally (see below). By purchasing BE, EDF is required in a deregulated market, but it puts a price considered high and inherits a nuclear fleet aging, or even obsolete. On its first quarter fiscal, closed end of June, the British company had to State to a 65 of its net income fall, its nuclear plants that produced 27 electricity less than one year previously.

Pierre Gadonneix, who hopes to increase the efficiency of existing plants, the acquisition must allow to complete its mandate in beauty and to forget his failures to repetition beyond the borders. More recently, its Spain and Belgium attempts have failed. As its American partner Constellation Energy, liquidity crisis, he comes to accept an offer to purchase of Investor Warren Buffett for $ 4.7 billion, while EDF proposed 33 more...