EDF bids £12.5bn for British Energy

EDF, which revealed the British Energy Board is unanimously recommending its offer, set an all-cash price of 774 pence per cent for each share in the firm and made an alternative of 700 pence per share with "one nuclear power note".

This deal is good value for the taxpayer and a significant step towards the construction of a new generation of nuclear stations to power the country

Gordon Brown

Prime Minister

The Government owns a 36 per cent in stake in British Energy and backed the bid, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown commenting: "This deal is good value for the taxpayer and a significant step towards the construction of a new generation of nuclear stations to power the country.

In a statement, EDF said combining the knowledge, skills, experience and assets of the two companies will lead to a new standard in low-carbon energy generation and predicted it would secure long-term affordable energy for UK businesses and homeowners.

Earlier this month, British Energy welcomed the Government's commitment to new build nuclear energy and revealed that work is underway to increase the number of plants operating in the UK.