March 30, 2023: On Wednesday, Ovo Energy plans to seize Shell Plc’s UK gas and electricity business. Sky News reported that this move would allow the British retail energy supplier to recycle the No. 2 spot in the British supply business.

The report added that Ovo is anticipated to propose an indicative offering for Shell Energy Retail Ltd’s UK operation, which cited sources. Shell Energy Retail has nearly 1.4 million customers.

In January, Shell stated it was considering exiting its home energy retail firms in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany after “tough market conditions”.

Retail energy supply in Europe has struggled over the past year, with increasing wholesale prices forcing governments to shield consumers from surging bills.

A successful deal would start Ovo’s customer base from nearly 4 million UK households to 5.4 million homes, based on information available on Ovo and Shell websites.

This should be Ovo ahead of Octopus Energy, the UK’s second-huge supplier, which has nearly 5 million household customers after taking over energy supplier Bulb.

According to the Sky report, it was unclear if Ovo is funding a takeover of the firms from existing financial resources or if it would need to raise recent equity or debt.

The report stated that British Gas owner Centrica, the UK’s significant retail supplier, is exploring an offer for the SERL arm, which cited industry executives.