OCTOPUS Energy is closing in on a deal to snap up Shell's household energy business - which could be finalised as soon as this autumn.

The takeover would make the supplier the second largest energy firm with over 6m customers.

It would also confirm the Big Six's stranglehold on the energy market, taking its share of the country's customer base to well over 90 per cent.

Octopus emerged as the leading candidate to snap up Shell Energy Retail nearly three months after the division was put up for sale, Sky News reported.

Any potential acquisition would follow less than a year after it bought Bulb Energy - with its 1.6m customer base - which powered the supplier from fifth to third in the retailer rankings.

Taking on Shell's 1.5m household customers also edges Octopus closer to

Centrica-owned British Gas, the UK's largest energy firm, which supplies 10m homes and businesses.

Shell calculates selling the unit would remove about $300m (£238m) in its annual operating expenses.

Lazard is handling Shell's auction. Sky understands other parties remain in the mix to buy the business from Shell, and a superior offer could still emerge, but Shell expects to sign a sale agreement during the autumn.

Ovo Energy and British Gas have previously been linked with the deal.

While Octopus is expected to offload Shell's 500,000 broadband customers, which are also being sold as part of the arrangement, it is unclear whether the company would retain the 125,000 customers across Shell's retail businesses in Germany and the Netherlands.

Octopus, Shell, Lazard and Ovo declined to comment. Centrica did not respond by the time of publication.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper