Share price soars at FTSE250 firm after challenger acquisition

SHARES in the Drax Group climbed yesterday on the back of the news that it would be acquiring a challenger business energy supplier in a £340m deal.

Its share price opened at 280p per share yesterday, climbing during the day up to 18% and closing at 325.1p.

Yesterday it announced that it had acquired Opus Energy, a supplier of energy to the SME business market.

This was part of chief executive Dorothy Thompson’s diversification plans, enabling it to build on the B2B energy supplying activities of Haven Power, which services the large industrial market.

The Selby-based group owns Drax Power Station, currently in the midst of a conversion to biomass from coal, though getting Government funding to convert its remaining coal units has proved difficult. They are due to be shut down by 2025.

Mrs Thompson reportedly said that the acquisition of four open-cycle gas turbines for £18.5m, also announced yesterday was not an admission of defeat over biomass support.