Octopus has announced that it would acquire Bulb’s 1.5 million users. The failure of energy supplier Bulb in November 2021 was the most important of dozens of energy supplier disasters.

Octopus Energy has finalized its agreement to acquire Bulb, a defunct energy competitor that received billions of pounds in government assistance for nearly a year.

Octopus has announced that it will acquire Bulb’s 1.5 million clients, putting an end to taxpayer losses and uncertainty for Bulb’s consumers and staff.

It added: “Octopus is paying the government to acquire Bulb’s customer base; this is considered to be a higher amount per customer than providers routinely paid to acquire customers from any of the 29 suppliers that have failed since September 2021.”

Additionally, taxpayers will benefit from a profit-sharing agreement for up to four years.

It follows Ovo Energy’s eleventh-hour effort to block Octopus from acquiring the nationalized supplier.

Ovo put in a bid for Bulb shortly after the latter went bankrupt a year ago but subsequently withdrew from the auction.

Bulb’s bailout might cost the government up to £4 billion.

A significant supply breakdown

The collapse of Bulb in November 2021 was the most major of dozens of supplier failures, and the industry regulator, Ofgem, was heavily criticized for its strategy to licensing new market entrants.

The government has previously spent billions of pounds supplying Bulb consumers with gas since the firm did not hedge its purchases to stabilize its cost base.

Over the past year, wholesale gas prices have skyrocketed, with Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine having a dramatic impact on global energy markets.

This would enable the purchaser to arrange an adequate ahead gas supply to get the enterprise through the winter.

According to persons with knowledge of the issue, Octopus wants to repay the government financing over a period of several months.