PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
EASTERN ELECTRICITY (29 January 1998)

That this House is deeply concerned by the news that the Japanese finance house Nomura International is considering a takeover bid for Eastern Electricity; believes that it would be totally inappropriate for one of Britain's major public utilities to be owned by a City merchant bank with no experience at all of running a major utility company; is concerned that this proposed transaction is motivated solely by short-term financial gain, with no concern for the interest of consumers as opposed to shareholders; is also concerned by the rival proposed bid by Texas Utilities, particularly in view of their low credit rating for such a major transaction and their history of problems with nuclear plant in the US; and asks the Government to look urgently at these issues as part of its review of utility regulations, and in the meantime to continue its sensible policy of referring all individual bids for United Kingdom utilities to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission for investigation.

Sponsored by:
Dr Ian Gibson (Labour)