EDF buys British Energy

[Clair]

The deal has just been announced.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/edf-agrees-takeover-of-british-energy-940558.html

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

So the British invade France by buying all the houses, and France retaliates by buying British industry, crafty....[:)]

[Clair]

how it's reported in the French newspapers:

http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2008/09/24/edf-se-lance-a-l-assaut-de-british-energy_1098835_3234.html (in google-English here)

It seems the original offer was increased from €15.45 billion (£12.5 billion) to €15.6 billion.

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="LyndaandRichard"]So the British invade France by buying all the houses, and France retaliates by buying British industry, crafty....[:)]
[/quote]

But the crafty British government is going to insist that EDF build more power stations - at no cost to the British taxpayer. Hmm ...

This practice of flogging the crown jewels to Johnny Foreigner seems to be particularly British, no-one else seems to have adopted it with such relish. And I bet the Spanish rue the day they ever got involved with Heathrow Airport ...

[tegwini]

I don't know about the  useless UK government being 'crafty' or even businesslike in their dealings - far from it.  Selling our gold reserves at the bottom of the market is one example, plus many many others.

The problem is that they are nearly all career politicians.   Very few have ever worked in the real world , or managed a business where normal business controls and constraints could mean bankruptcy and penuary.  

 My government, (and I did not vote for them - ever!)  if it has a shortfall, for example for their fat-cat pensions, will just increase the tax on something.   No such thing as market forces for them.

But, I welcome nuclear power to produce electricity.  And,  I said this decades ago when I heard of the tonnes of coal dust in the air churned out by the UK power stations using coal.    I think the French would be best to get it going in the UK.

Tegwini