By Susanna Twidale
LONDON (Reuters) - British challenger energy supplier Octopus Energy will acquire Engie's (PA:ENGIE) 70,000 residential customers in the country, Octopus Energy said on Monday.
Octopus Energy already has around 1.4 million British energy customer giving it around a 5% share of the market.
Engie's customers will join over the next few months, it said in a statement.
No financial details of the deal were disclosed.
Engie launched its British home energy supply business in May 2017, before regulator Ofgem imposed a price cap on the most widely used tariffs in 2019.
Britain's energy market was previously dominated by six big suppliers - Centrica's British Gas (L:CNA), SSE (L:SSE), EDF Energy (PA:EDF), Iberdrola's Scottish Power (MC:IBE), E.ON (DE:EONGn) and Innogy's (DE:IGY), npower.
However, SSE sold its retail business to OVO Energy earlier this year and exited the market, while npower is now owned by E.ON following an asset swap with RWE (DE:RWEG) that included the break up of Innogy.
Smaller, nimbler brands, such as Octopus Energy with their lower overheads and cheaper offerings, have rapidly taken market share from struggling incumbents.
"Our technology enables a lower cost transition and our rapid growth means we can bring the benefits of cheaper, greener, smarter energy to ever more customers," said Greg Jackson, Octopus Energy CEO.
Engie customers joining Octopus will receive renewable electricity as standard.