The energy giant Shell announced on Friday that it had sold its electricity and gas distribution business to individuals in the United Kingdom and Germany to the British group Octopus Energy, without specifying the amount of the operation. The group had indicated in June that it intended to divest its retail business in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, which it provided under the Shell Energy brand, following a strategic review that began in January.
The sale of this company, which supplies “gas, electricity and broadband internet to around two million customers”, the vast majority of whom are in the UK, should be finalized during the fourth quarter, Shell said in a release. The energy giant previously announced that it would wind up its retail business in the Netherlands, which was only a fraction of that business.
Over six million UK residential customers for Octopus
This sale does not affect either wholesale business activities or the supply of energy to SMEs under the Shell Energy brand, or those that sell energy to individuals outside of Europe, particularly in the United States and Australia.
This operation allows Octopus, based in the United Kingdom but present in 15 countries, to have “almost 6.5 million residential customers in the United Kingdom” and a customer base in Germany of “almost 300,000 people,” said the acquiring group. in a separate press release.
Octopus recently acquired UK supplier Bulb
Power distributors have been under pressure for several years, especially two years ago in the UK, with a spate of supplier bankruptcies and others being taken over or subject to government bailouts. With the post-Covid reopening of the economy and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, wholesale energy prices skyrocketed, but providers had to wait to pass on those increases due to caps put in place to protect consumers.
Octopus had already recently regained 1.5 million customers in the UK with the purchase of the provider Bulb, under government infusion following its bankruptcy at the end of 2021 and whose sale was officially concluded on December 20.
Source: BFM TV
