Shareholders give green light to £340m Drax purchase

Shareholders have voted overwhelmingly to move ahead with plans to acquire Opus Energy in a £340m deal.

Just over 83% of shareholders agreed to the acquisition, which would expand the Selby-based power generation company’s retail offering and diversification plans.

The deal was announced in December 2016, and Drax’s share price soared following the announcement as investors got behind the acquisition.

Opus, which is 50% owned by management, 30& owned by France’s Engie and 20% owned by Telecom Plus, is one of Britain’s top five suppliers of energy to SMEs with more than 130,000 customers. It will complement Drax’s Haven Power brand that supplies larger industrial customers.

Drax has been investing millions of pounds in the diversification of its business, the conversion to biomass, the acquisition of four sites which could potentially used for gas-fired plants.