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11 April 2008 - RWE, the German utility company, has made an indicative all-cash offer of close to 700p ($13.82) a share for British Energy, in a deal that could value the UK's nuclear operator at up to $21.7bn.
The FT reports that a sale at that price would raise almost £4bn for the government, although the money has been earmarked for the Nuclear Liabilities Fund to pay for the clean-up of reactor sites.
RWE, which made the offer several weeks ago, has now been granted access to British Energy's data room and is carrying out due diligence, according to people close to the situation.
The offer was made before British Energy confirmed on March 17 that it was in talks that could lead to a full takeover. News of the offer sent British Energy shares up 291/2p or more than four per cent to 731p at the open.
British Energy has not yet triggered a "formal" auction of the company and is still considering whether to sell to one bidder or a consortium.
EDF Energy, the UK arm of Electricité de France, is also conducting due diligence. It is understood to have initially made an offer to buy only part of British Energy, because it was reluctant to buy the nuclear generator's ageing advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs).
Competition from RWE will mean that EDF would have to bid for all of British Energy, including the AGRs.
Centrica, the UK energy company, had also previously submitted an all-share
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