Government hopes for BE 'optimistic'

Government hopes to have an EDF Energy-British Energy (BE) tie up within two weeks have been dubbed "optimistic" by the British nuclear company, according to a recent report.

Government hopes to have an EDF Energy-British Energy (BE) tie up within two weeks have been dubbed "optimistic" by the British nuclear company, according to a recent report.

Business secretary John Hutton has been quoted in the Daily Telegraph expressing his hopes for the deal to be wrapped up as soon as possible: "I really want to move on…I would like this all to possibly be resolved within the next couple of weeks."

But BE has countered the comments by revealing that a September or even October tie-up would be more likely.

The UK energy firm rejected the EDF deal proposed earlier this month, citing the £12 billion figure as too low, despite ministers believing that the deal was almost complete.

Currently Centrica, owner of British Gas, is also waiting by the sidelines to get its foot in the door and make a bid for BE, although the government - a 35 per cent owner in the company - has voiced strong opposition to such a takeover.

Speaking about the government's ''optimistic'' timetable, a BE spokesperson said: "We're certainly not expecting anything next week and I think it's unlikely that anything will be announced the following week either.

"We're keen to come to an agreement on a deal with EDF, although whether that's achieved is still open to debate."