Sir Adrian Montague, chairman of British Energy, has been warned by some of the company’s biggest shareholders that they will reject any takeover offer for the nuclear power group unless it offers a “significant” premium to the current share price.

British Energy has received three takeover proposals, including two that value the group at more than 680p a share, or £10.8 billion.

The French power giant EDF is behind one approach, while a second proposal is thought to have come from a consortium of Spain’s Iberdrola and Germany’s RWE. A third proposal – thought to be from Franco-Belgian group Suez – does not include a price.

Several large shareholders have told Montague that the value of the company’s existing nuclear reactors is soaring, thanks to the rapid rise in wholesale electricity prices. Oil and gas prices are both hitting record highs, in turn pushing up power prices in Britain.

One institution with a large stake in the business has told the board that the company’s current share price does not fully value the company’s current power generation, let alone offer any control premium. A succesful bid would also have to offer a premium for the right to build new nuclear reactors in Britain.

Market sources say that any successful offer would have to be priced at more than 800p a share to satisfy a hardcore group of loyal shareholders.

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