Acquisition

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC
28 April 2004



SSE ACQUIRES ATLANTIC ELECTRIC & GAS ASSETS

FOR £90.7 MILLION

Scottish and Southern Energy plc ('SSE') has today completed the acquisition of
the assets of Atlantic Electric & Gas Limited (in administrative receivership)
('Atlantic') from the Receivers, KPMG LLP. The total consideration is £90.7
million in cash, predominantly for the customer debt book but also for over
300,000 customers. SSE is not taking on the bulk of the liabilities normally
associated with an energy supply business.

Atlantic is the seventh largest supplier of electricity and gas in the UK, with
over 300,000 customers located throughout the country. The acquisition means SSE
has more than 5.5 million energy customers, an increase of one million since the
start of 2002, and is now the fourth largest energy supplier in the UK. The
Atlantic brand will be retained, adding to SSE's existing portfolio of three
strong regional brands, Southern Electric, SWALEC and Scottish Hydro-Electric.

Atlantic currently has offices in Cardiff, where SSE already has a customer
service centre, and in Gloucester. Its operations will be fully integrated with
those of SSE, including the transfer of customers onto SSE's customer service
system. This will be achieved over the next few months. The acquisition will
make a valuable contribution to Group earnings.

SSE Chief Executive Ian Marchant said: 'This acquisition represents good value
and complements our success in growing customer numbers organically over the
past two years. I am committed to making sure that all our new customers will
benefit from the high quality of customer service we offer, which remains a key
differentiator in energy supply.

'We believe that our commitment to customer service, combined with our ability
to offer a diverse range of energy-related products, means we will be able to
continue to grow our supply business in the future.'

For further information please contact:

Alan Young Director of Corporate Communications 0870 900 0410

Denis Kerby Media and IR Manager   0870 900 0410






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