Germany’s E.ON is in talks to sell its UK electricity distribution network for between £3.5 billion and £4 billion.
The utility group is understood to be in advanced discussions with a consortium consisting of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Canada Pension Fund and Macquarie for the purchase of its distribution network.
The network is the second largest in the UK and serves around nine million customers. It consists of the former Midlands and East Midlands electricity companies. E.ON bought the two firms in 2004 and rebranded them shortly afterwards.
The supply area stretches from the Welsh borders to the Lincolnshire coast; and from the Peak District in Derbyshire to the outskirts of Bristol.
E.ON has been cutting costs and selling assets in an attempt to reduce its debt levels.
If the sale is successful, it would be the latest in a series of takeovers for UK energy and infrastructure assets.
Last week, the high-speed rail line that links London to the Channel Tunnel was sold to Canadian pension funds for £2.1 billion; while EDF recently sold its London electricity network to Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, for £5.8 billion.
According to a report by Reuters, the consortium interested in E.ON's UK business lost the race to buy UK power grids from France's EDF for £5.8 billion in July this year.
With UK headquarters in Coventry, Warwickshire, E.ON employs around 16,000 people in the UK and more than 90,000 worldwide.
