Centrica, owner of British Gas, plans to disrupt a €515m (£407m) deal agreed Friday between French energy groups Gaz de France and Electricité de France, part of its efforts to expand in continental Europe.

GdF on Friday agreed to sell its 25.5 per cent stake in Belgian electricity and gas supplier SPE to EDF for €515m. GdF had agreed with the European Commission it would sell its shares in SPE in order to win regulatory approval for its merger with Suez, Belgian’s largest energy supplier.