In 1998, BP stamped its authority on the energy industry with its £67.7bn acquisition of US energy giant Amoco – believed at the time to be the largest ever takeover. The deal put BP Amoco at the very top of the energy market, but the company’s next attempt to build on its already substantial market […]
The next two years are crucial for Powergen. The gas and electricity giant is planning to purchase a major US utility and has set aside £3.1bn to do so. The company already has links in the US. In 1993 it joined with stateside companies NRG Energy and Morrison Knudson to operate lignite mines and power […]
Last month, British Energy breathed a sigh of relief when its five-month bid for Welsh utility Hydra’s subsidiary Swalec, the south-west retail gas and electricity supplier, was cleared by the Department of Trade and Industry. Callum McCarthy, the director general of industry regulator Electricity Supply had previously expressed concerns that the £105m takeover would give […]
Centrica, the largest gas supplier in the US, is not a company normally associated with rescuing broken-down vehicles. But in an attempt to diversify its interests, Centrica has acquired the Automobile Association (AA) for £1.1bn (The Lawyer, 12 July). The acquisition, yet to be approved by AA members, will bolster Centrica’s client base, adding another […]
Ryan Dunleavy talks to John Southworth, a man who is making the unusual move from in-house to join a law firm as head of Nabarro Nathanson’s upstream oil and gas team John Southworth is a man who does not follow convention. This week he leaves Marathon Oil and Gas as its legal manager to head […]
National Grid Group is already, without doubt, a formidable company. From its privatisation in 1990, the group went on to float on the stock exchange in 1995, placing it at the forefront of the UK’s energy sector. However, its decision last December to enter a billion-pound merger with US energy distributor New England Electric System […]
Aa global brands go, Shell is one of the most familiar. But its simplicity and immediacy belies a complex group structure spann ing oil and gas businesses in 130 countries around the world. Shell UK is the British arm of the business. But which business? The Royal Dutch/Shell Group consists of two parent companies. One, […]