Ovo Energy Ltd. and Octopus Energy Ltd. are bidding for Shell Plc’s UK retail energy supply business as they seek to gain market share.
(Bloomberg) — Ovo Energy Ltd. and Octopus Energy Ltd. are bidding for Shell Plc’s UK retail energy supply business as they seek to gain market share.
Both companies are in the second round of bidding, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the sale is private. Shell put the UK unit, along with similar supply businesses in the Netherlands and Germany, under review in January. Bloomberg reported in February the company was working with US investment bank Lazard Ltd. on a possible sale.
Shell is seeking to offload the unprofitable unit, which had become one of the biggest UK home energy suppliers. It has almost 5% of the market for power and gas, according to data from regulator Ofgem. Its customer unit swelled last year as it added hundreds of thousands of new accounts from rivals that went out of business amid soaring gas prices.
Britain’s biggest retail energy supplier Centrica Plc was interested in the unit but it’s unclear if the company made it through to the second round, according to Reuters, which first reported the story.
A deal could be worth $50 million to $100 million, according to sources cited by Reuters. It would mark a significant increase in customer accounts for Ovo or Octopus.
Shell, Centrica, Ovo and Octopus declined to comment.
–With assistance from Elena Mazneva, Todd Gillespie and William Mathis.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.