EdF Nears Buying Constellation Stake: Report

Electricite de France is close to an agreement to buy half the nuclear power business of

Constellation Energy

(CEG)

for $4.5 billion, trumping a takeover bid by Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy,

Bloomberg

reports.

Approval by Constellation's board is contingent on waivers of bank covenants and may be announced as early as this week,

Bloomberg

reports, citing a person familiar with the situation.

Constellation accepted MidAmerican's $4.7 billion offer in September to stave off a credit downgrade that it said may have led to bankruptcy. EdF earlier this month offered to take a 50% stake in Constellation's nuclear operations through a joint venture. Constellation agreed on Dec. 8 to open talks with EdF.

EdF, which owns 9.5% of Constellation, said its offer amounts to around $52 a share and that the price represents a 96% premium to the takeover proposal by MidAmerican Energy, which is offering $26.50 a share.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.