Government's auction of Bulb attracts single bid

Downing Street has launched efforts to salvage a deal for collapsed UK energy supplier Bulb after attempts to auction off the company attracted just one bid — from rival Octopus Energy.

The British government has been working to offload Bulb since the firm's collapse in November 2021 after it failed to raise new money amid soaring natural gas prices.

The government initially aimed to sell Bulb by the end of July, with final bids due last month and only Octopus, the UK's fifth-largest gas and electricity supplier, making an offer after the government allegedly "hardballed" potential suitors, according to Financial Times sources.

Centrica was rumoured to be prepared to make a bid for the firm but pulled out of the competition in June, while Abu Dhabi-based Masdar also declined to submit a bid.

Bulb was already expected to cost the government at least £2.2bn, making it the biggest state bailout since the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2008.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com