The owners of the U.K.'s eight operating nuclear plants, Electricité de France SA and Centrica PLC, may be close to selling a portion of their holdings, Sky News reported Sept. 14.
A consortium of infrastructure funds made up of Dalmore Capital Limited, Equitix Ltd. and GLIL Infrastructure, an alternative investment fund comprised of U.K. pension funds, are looking to pay about £1.2 billion for a 20% stake in the power plants. Ownership in the roughly 9-GW nuclear fleet is split 80% EDF and 20% Centrica. According to the Sky News report, the consortium would acquire a 10% stake in the overall business from each owner, leaving EDF with 70% and Centrica with 10%.
EDF, according to the Sky News report, would like to reduce its ownership interest in the U.K. nuclear plants to 51%, while Centrica, primarily an energy supplier that has run into various troubles with its business, is looking to get out of the U.K. nuclear business entirely.
Earlier this year, a different party, Greencoat Capital LLP, was reported to be developing a new fund that would acquire a minority stake in the nuclear plants, which produce about one-fifth of the U.K.'s electricity. China General Nuclear Power Corp., which is already working with EDF on new nuclear plants in the U.K., has also been reported as an interested party.
The Sky News report noted that Dalmore-backed funds have received investments from Korean companies.
