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13 May 2008 - The UK has ruled out selling its stake in British Energy(BE) to a lone bidder, despite the auction for the owner of Britain's nuclear reactors drumming up interest only from France's EDF by last Friday's deadline.
The Daily Telegraph understands that the UK government, which has a 35.2 per cent share in BE, is maintaining its position that no one body should have full ownership.
Sources said the Government would prefer to grant the winning company the sale of just six sites, thereby leaving the door open for another firm, such as Centrica, the only realistic British bidder, to acquire the remaining two.
Centrica is still interested in acquiring part of BE, and is banking on being able to do a deal with the winner to acquire assets post-sale. The Government is expected to put sufficient pressure on any successful bidder, with the French energy giant EDF firmly in pole position, to force them to divest some interests.
One source said the Government would make it clear it was "politically disadvantageous not to" sell.
Although the Government owns just over a third of the energy group, it can use its power on planning applications to force a bidder to team up with a rival, or to pressure a bidder into selling a chunk of the business to another body once the sale is complete.
Control over planning is key because energy groups are effectively bidding to construct new power stations, the first of which needs to be complete by 2018, which gives the Government enormous leverage over the sale.
Sites other than the eight existing BE ones are available. After a sale, the Government could instead grant planning permission on sites owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, separate from BE.
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