National Grid Buys UK's Largest Electrical Distribution Business For £7.8bn

National Grid, the company responsible for keeping Britains lights on has acquired Western Power Distribution (WPD) from America’s PPL corporation in the latest transformation of the utility business. It also plans to sell its gas transmission arm in a switch it says will enhance its role in delivering "net zero".

The acquisition will give National Grid control over an electricity distribution network that serves around 7.9 million customers in the Midlands, the South West and Wales, with over 6,500 staff.

In the meantime it plans to offload a majority stake in National Grid Gas (NGG) by the end of 2022, which is responsible for the UK’s national gas transmission network and employs around 2,200 people.

In a statement National Grid Chief Executive John Pettigrew said the electricity distribution business was "expected to see a high level of asset growth as a result of the ongoing energy transition" and the deals would "significantly enhance National Grid's central role in the delivery of the UK's net zero targets".

National Grid was privatised in 1990 and floated five years later on the London stock exchange.