French energy giant, Électricité de France has agreed to buy British Energy for $23.18 billion, in a deal that gives the French company control over eight UK nuclear power plants.

EdF, 84.8 per cent owned by the French state runs all 58 nuclear reactors in France and is the world's largest nuclear plant operator.

EdF offered 774 pence for each BE share, valuing the firm at $23.18 billion or an alternative of 700 pence in cash plus one nuclear power note, a financial instrument linked to BE's future performance.

The deal comes less than two months after talks between the firms broke down, because British Energy's largest shareholders - Invesco and M&G Investment, said the offer price of around 765 pence a share was too low.

The purchase would be made through EdF's subsidiary Lake Acquisitions, which has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell 25 per cent of its stock to British Gas-owner - Centrica.

Centrica would then have the right to 25 per cent of any new nuclear plant's output and provide a sizeable British-owned interest. Centrica said its potential purchase of the stake would be undertaken for a matching 774 pence per share.

French state-controlled EdF said in a statement that the companies administrative boards had reached a deal on the offer to be made by Lake Acquisitions Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of EdF.

EdF, via its subsidiary 'EdF Energy' in the UK has 12,000 employees and generates around 6 per cent of Britain's power even before acquiring British Energy.

British Energy with its eight nuclear power stations was generating around 14 per cent of the U.K.'s electricity. But more important for EdF, the deal will make it the favorite to build further reactors in the country.

It will now gain by acquiring immediate access to land in Britain where it could expand existing nuclear facilities. EdF can now plan in to build four EPR nuclear power units, two each at Sizewell and Hinkley Point. The 1600 MWe units would contribute 13 per cent of UK electricity by 2020.

As per the deal, EdF has agreed with the government to dispose of land near existing nuclear sites, which could provide other firms to build reactors in order to foster a competitive industry.

The government's British Energy stake, worth around $8 billion, is earmarked for the government's Nuclear Liability Fund, which was created to pay for the decommissioning and cleaning up of British Energy's eight current nuclear stations when closures of the sites begins in 2014.

EdF has also offered to purchase US wholesale power supplier Constellation Energy Group with a counter offer of $6.2 billion in hopes of unseating a deal Constellation made last week with Warren Buffet's MidAmerican Energy Holdings for $4.7 billion (See: EDF teams up with KKR, TPG to make $6.2 billion counter bid for Constellation)