SSE in €488m Irish power play

Scottish & Southern Energy is to spend €488m (£397m) buying up power stations in Ireland, making Britain's second-biggest energy supplier the number three in the Emerald Isle.

SSE is buying the gas and oil-fired plants from the indebted Italian utility Enel's Endesa division. The deal price is made up of €320m for the actual purchase plus a further €168m for working capital and construction costs to develop them.