On Wednesday a major player, Electricité de France SA, lost out on its bid to buy a stake in Belgian utility Société Coopérative de Production d'Electricité when it was bested by the U.K.'s Centrica plc. Another European utility stake that EdF is said to be eyeing -- the 45% position in Spain's No. 3 utility, Union Fenosa SA -- has been on the block since July 17. On Thursday EdF learned that one of its rivals for the Fenosa stake will be another Spanish company, Gas Natural SDG SA. The combination of Gas Natural and Union Fenosa would establish a Spanish energy giant to rival Ed, as well as the newly created powerhouse GdF Suez SA and Germany's E.ON AG.
But EdF is not sitting still. The London Times reports that the company is close to clinching an £11 billion ($22 billion) takeover of nuclear producer British Energy Group plc. Centrica -- remember them? -- is said to have resumed talks with EdF to buy a stake of up to 25% of British Energy if the takeover succeeds. If it doesn't, EdF and Centrica will no doubt have moved on to some other merger prospect. - Barbara Rudolph
TheDeal.com: Gas Natural to bid for Fenosa (subscription required)
