EDF, the French utility, has agreed to buy nuclear power generator British Energy for £12.4bn, in a deal that will reshape the UK energy sector.

EDF, the French utility, has agreed to buy nuclear power generator British Energy for £12.4bn, in a deal that will reshape the UK energy sector.

State-owned Electricité de France has agreed to offer 774p per share, 9p higher than the offer that British Energy rejected in July, a power industry source said last night.

Details of the takeover are to be revealed before trading begins this morning. EDF is expected to hold a news conference later today in Paris.

The takeover, after more than four months of talks, would give EDF control of eight British nuclear plant sites with potential for building new reactors.

The French utility already supplies gas and electricity to about five million customers in Britain. The purchase by EDF, whose 58 nuclear plants produced more than 75% of France's electricity last year, comes as the UK Government seeks investment in atomic energy.

East Kilbride-based British Energy, of which the government owns 36%, rejected an offer on July 31 from EDF at 765p a share. British Energy's biggest private shareholders said at the time that the bid undervalued the company.