EDF Board of Directors approves the sale of the UK electricity distribution networks to the Cheung Kong group

Wednesday, Sep 08, 2010

Following consultation with the EDF Group’s European Works Council, EDF’s Board of Directors today approved the sale of its UK electricity distribution networks to the Cheung Kong group ("CKI") following its irrevocable offer of 29 July, worth £3.2 billion in equity. This would represent a € 6.8 billion in net debt reduction for the Group (*). The transaction remains subject to the approval of CKI Group shareholders, approval by decree of the French Minister of the Economy, following consultation with the French “Commission des Participations et des Transferts” and authorization from the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission.EDF Energy Chief Executive and member of EDF Group Executive Committee, Vincent de Rivaz said “EDF has shown a consistent and growing commitment to the UK through the major investments it has made over the past 12 years. In addition, along with partners including Centrica, EDF Energy is considering building four new nuclear EPRs, subject to the right investment framework being in place”.Ahead of the fulfillment of the conditions to the transaction, EDF Energy will continue to make sure that affected employees, pensioners, customers and communities are being taken care of, and that remains the priority over the remaining stages. In order to ensure a smooth handover, EDF Energy will work with Cheung Kong group which is a high quality group with extensive experience of operating regulated infrastructure operations around the world, including in the UK.

Source: EDF