- Paris-based Engie will buy UK Power Networks from owner
French utility giant Engie has agreed to acquire the owner of Britain’s biggest electricity distribution network in a deal worth £10.5billion.
Engie, based in Paris, said it would buy UK Power Networks, which operates electricity cables and power lines across London and the South East, from Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Infrastructure Holdings.
The group, owned by billionaire businessman Li Ka-shing, has owned UKPN for the last 15 years, after buying the network from EDF.
The deal has emerged nearly a year after Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority gave Spain’s Iberdrola the green light to snap up an 88 per cent stake in Britain’s Electricity North West, via its subsidiary, Scottish Power.
Deal: Engie, based in Paris, said it would buy UK Power Networks in a £10.5bn deal
UKPN operates around 192,000km of power lines serving 8.5million customers, and will make Britain Engie’s second largest market globally.
Basil Scarsella, chief executive of UKPN, said it would continue to be a ‘global energy leader’.
He added that the deal would reinforce UK Power Network’s ability to serve customers ‘with the highest standards of safety, customer service and reliability’ as investment ramps up to support growth and electrification.
The transaction will be structured around a mix of debt, disposals and new equity. Subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to be completed by the middle of this year.
Speaking to This is Money, Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: ‘At first glance, and given the scale of the borrowing and investment required to finance the deal, it is difficult to see that consumers will benefit from lower prices in the short-term.
‘The change of ownership to French utility Engie seems to chime with their primary objective towards a decarbonisation strategy’.
The government is aiming to decarbonise Britain’s electricity system by 2030, a target brought forward to 2030 from 2035.
Ed Miliband said in April 2025: ‘We will usher in a new era of clean electricity for our country, with our plan to deliver the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations’.
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