11 August 2008 10:02
E.ON completes acquisision of ABB's highways lighting business

E.ON, one of the UK's leading power and gas companies, has today announced it has completed the acquisition of ABB's highways lighting business, including ABB's interests in the Lighting for Staffordshire Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project¹.

The acquisition will be integrated into E.ON's existing Energy Services business and will see E.ON taking responsibility for approximately 106,000 pieces of lighting equipment.

Don Leiper, Managing Director of Energy Services, said: "This is a great deal for us as we look to expand our street lighting capability.

"We already have a public lighting team, which provides a comprehensive service from design through to installation, connection and maintenance, and our new colleagues will be a very welcome addition, especially with their knowledge and expertise in PFI."

ABB's highways lighting business employs 150 people at eight depots across the Midlands region, including Burton, Rugby, Northampton, Sleaford and Cannock.

"We look forward to working with our new colleagues in taking our business forward," said Don.

The full details of the deal - including the price - remain confidential.

Ends

Notes to editors:

¹ = Lighting for Staffordshire was awarded a 25 year PFI contract to carry out the renewal of life-expired road lighting and illuminated traffic sign equipment on the road and streets of Staffordshire ( excluding unitary authority of Stoke on Trent and motorways passing through the county) together with the accompanying ongoing maintenance programme.

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. We employ around 17,000 people in the UK;
• E.ON is the new name for Powergen. Our retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK, with around 8 million electricity and gas customer accounts, covering domestic, SME and industrial. E.ON offers central heating and boiler care through its Home Energy Services business;
• Our distribution business, branded Central Networks, provides a reliable supply to 4.9 customers in central England through 133,000km of underground and overhead cables - enough to go round the Earth more than three times - and via almost 97,000 substations. The company covers an area from the Peak District in the north to parts of Bristol in the south, and from the Welsh Borders to the Lincolnshire Coast;
• We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We also burn biomass material mixed with coal in two of our power stations and are currently building one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;

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