French utility Engie has acquired 100% of British electricity distributor UK Power Networks (UKPN) for a share value of £10.5 billion.
According to Engie, the enterprise value of UKPN, which manages the electricity grid in London, the South East and East of England, is £15.8 billion.
Engie said the acquisition is part of a strategy to strengthen its position in regulated electricity networks “to become the best energy transition company.”
The acquisition also expands Paris-based Engie’s UK presence, making it its second largest country of operations.
UKPN, a distribution network operator (DNO), has been owned for the past fifteen years by a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, CK Group, founded by billionaire Li Ka-shing. It operates three distribution licenses representing a 192,000km network and is the UK’s largest electricity network.
Engie said that through the acquisition it has rebalanced its activities “in one move” and now has a strong view of capital allocation in the coming years.
It used to be the only major European utility without an electricity distribution network. Operating within the electricity value chain complements its role in upstream renewables and flexible electricity and storage, and in downstream energy management and customer provision.
Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor said regulated electricity network infrastructures are “essential for energy security, electrification of demand and greater system flexibility”.
UKPN is active in its approach to flexibility, piloting AI-enabled day-ahead flexibility markets for electric vehicles, heat pumps and batteries, among others. It has received several rounds of funding from energy regulator Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF)..
MacGregor described Britain as a “key country with a stable regulatory framework and clear targets for decarbonising the economy”. In the summer of 2025, Ofgem gave the green light to a £24 billion investment programme for the five years running from April this year to March 2031. Infrastructure upgrades will be crucial to connect the renewable generation planned under the Clean Power 2030 commitments on time.
When it announced the deal, Engie said it expected the transaction to have an immediate positive impact on results. In fact, shares in the company have risen 7.37% since the announcement.
Engie plans to finance the acquisition through a mix of debt and hybrid issuance for around €5 billion (£4.36 billion), and a divestment program of around €4 billion by 2028. It also plans to raise up to €3 billion in equity through an accelerated bookbuilding (ABB).
The transaction is expected to close in mid-2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals, and is also subject to approval by the independent shareholders of the sellers’ Hong Kong-listed parent companies.
It comes over a year later Spanish Iberdrola acquired an 88% stake in Electricity North West (ENW)through its UK subsidiary Scottish Power, which values the network at £5 billion.
