Centrica, which owns the British Gas and Scottish Gas brands, is set to acquire a majority stake in BordGais Energy (BGE) under a new government plan to privatise the firm.

A consortium of Centrica, Brookfield Renewables and Icon Infrastructure emerged as the preferred bidder with an offer of €1.125 billion under the latest round of negotiations. It is believed that the deal is not finalised yet but the government has decided to sell its stake to the consortium at the agreed rate.

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte has indicated that the government is planning to sign a deal with the buyer of the firm in January. It is believed that Viridian, which is the owner of Energia and US investor Blackstone were also in the race to acquire the company. Following the deal, Centrica will acquire the operations of BGE business that supplies 900,000 homes and businesses.

Experts said that the 900 staff at BordGais will get a windfall of more than €70 million due to their 3.25 per cent stake in the company that is held by them under an employee scheme.