OREANDA-NEWS. May 17, 2012. SSE plc, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Airtricity Energy Supply (Northern Ireland) Limited, has entered into an agreement with Phoenix Energy Holdings Limited, a Terra Firma company, to acquire the entire issued share capital in Phoenix Supply Limited, a regulated supplier of natural gas to 130,000 customers in Northern Ireland.

In addition SSE, through its wholly-owned Republic of Ireland-registered subsidiary Airtricity Limited, has agreed to acquire Phoenix Energy Limited, which supplies gas in the Republic’s deregulated commercial supply market.

The total cash consideration is ?19.1million excluding working capital related adjustments. The acquisition is subject to approval by the Irish Competition Authority and SSE expects to complete the purchase during the summer.

SSE is the fastest-growing energy provider on the island of Ireland. Following the acquisition SSE will provide energy and energy related services to over 750,000 gas and electricity customers in the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland markets. It also owns and operates 500MW of wind farm capacity on the island.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, Generation and Supply Director of SSE, said:

“We are delighted to be entering into this agreement and see it as an exciting new chapter in the continued development of SSE in Northern Ireland.  It is in keeping with our long-term commitment to serving customers, employing people, and making investments in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  We believe that Phoenix Supply customers and staff will benefit from this commitment and we look forward to completing the acquisition later this year.”