Acquisition

Centrica PLC
                  

Centrica acquires over 250,000 telecoms customers

Centrica plc today announced that the Group has acquired Telco Holdings Limited,
a UK telecommunications business operating under the Telco Global brand, for a
consideration of £43 million in cash and the assumption of £1.2 million of debt.

Telco Global will add 238,000 residential fixed line customers, of which 80 per
cent are on Carrier Pre Selection, 11,000 business fixed line customers and
around 10,000 business mobile customers, including a number of large corporate
accounts, to One.Tel's existing 1.1 million customer base.

In addition to increasing significantly Centrica's already sizeable telecoms
customer base, the acquisition brings a number of other synergies. These include
a strengthened presence in the B2B market, entry into the international pre-paid
phone card market and the capability to launch Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) services. The acquisition will also increase Centrica's purchasing power
by increasing fixed line voice minutes from around 5.6 billion minutes per annum
to around 7.7 billion.

Centrica Telecommunications currently has around 1.5 million customer accounts
under the One.Tel and British Gas Communications brands. The acquired customers
will be integrated into the One.Tel business and it is expected that significant
additional value will be realised through cost efficiencies and operational
synergies.

Sir Roy Gardner, Chief Executive of Centrica, said: 'Today's acquisition will
enable us to consolidate our position as the UK's largest indirect access
telecommunications company, reinforcing One.Tel as the major alternative for BT
customers, and supporting our efforts in the B2B market.'

Enquiries:

Centrica Media Relations                          01753 494085
Centrica Investor Relations                       01753 494900

Notes to Editors:

1. At 30 June, 2004, One.Tel had c1.1 million customers taking fixed, mobile or
internet products and British Gas Communications had 390,000 fixed line
customers.

2. The Telco Global Group, which was established in 1996, provides fixed, mobile
and internet services, to residential and business customers across the UK.
Telco Global are also one of the market leaders in the distribution of
international pre-paid phone cards.

3. Enfield based Telco Global has 230 employees.