News / bristol energy
Business side of Bristol Energy sold for £1.34m
Bristol City Council has sold the business customer base of its loss-making energy company to a Nottingham-based firm for £1.34m.
The boss of Yü Energy says its latest acquisition of 4,000 accounts, confirmed on Monday, August 10, forms part of its strategic national growth ambitions.
Plans to sell Bristol Energy were first made public in May this year. The council-owned firm has received £36.5m of public money since it was established in 2015 and has posted official losses of £32.5m.
The council has said a deal for the domestic side of the company is being progressed separately and is still subject to negotiation.
The “majority” of Bristol Energy’s B2B industry specialist staff will transfer to Yü Group as part of the deal.
Commenting on the sale, Allan Booth, managing director of Bristol Energy, said: “It was important that we found the right partner for our business energy customers whose values were consistent with those of Bristol Energy.
“Yü Energy has demonstrated its commitment to continue tackling social and environmental challenges such as climate change and supporting social causes for the benefit of our local community.
“Working together with the team at Yü, I am confident that we will provide a smooth transition for our business customers and staff.”
Bobby Kalar, the chief executive of Yü Group, added: “This acquisition forms part of our strategic growth plan, leverages our disciplined controls and scalable technology platform and highlights the group’s ability and appetite to scale.
“Immediate opportunities to synergise the customer book will further our ability to extract value while keeping overheads down. Management’s objective will be to transition Bristol Energy customers onto our platform quickly and seamlessly while enhancing value and creating a proven template for further value additive potential acquisitions.
“I remain convinced that there is a substantial market opportunity for Yü Group.”
Yü Group focuses on supplying green energy to the business market and the acquisition will add a further 4,000 meter points to the company’s current portfolio of 9,800.
Bristol City Council is on the customer base acquired by Yü Group – photo by Bristol Energy
The independent supplier is set to pay £1.24m this month for the customer base, which includes private and public sector organisations, including Bristol City Council, on contracts for up to three years. A further £100,000 is payable in three months.
Main photo by Martin Booth
Read more: Sale of loss-making Bristol Energy confirmed
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