A French utility company that had divided loyalties during the bidding for the 2012 Olympics is to become an official sponsor of the London Games. EDF Energy, which gave financial backing to both the London and Paris bids, is expected to pay up to £100million to become one of the 2012 Games’s commercial partners-The company, which is owned by Electricite de France and is the capital’s largest electricity supplier, will be unveiled as a sponsor next month, according to sources close to the negotiations. British Gas is thought to have dropped out of the bidding to be 2012′s official utilities supplier, leaving EDF as the Games’s second major sponsor after Lloyds TSB paid £80 million to become the banking partner. The huge payment will grant EDF use of the new London 2012 logo, which incorporates the Olympic rings and will be unveiled on Monday.The EDF deal takes the organising committee, Locog, a step closer to achieving its aim of raising £750million from sponsors, a third of its target revenue. Partners for at least five other categories -oil/gas, automotive, telecommunications, sportswear and airlines – will be signed up in the next 12 months. BT is thought to be close to a deal for the telecoms slot, but faces stiff competition from a rival, probably Vodafone. Royal Mail is said to be in negotiations for a £50million deal to be the official supplier of postal services, but bosses are considering if it is the right move while they are closing hundreds of post offices. The International Olympic Committee is considering whether to authorise Locog to sign a beer sponsor, with the American brewer of Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch, favourite to become the name behind 2012 Games’s official pint. As well as use of the Games logo, the key sponsors are offered first refusal on corporate hospitality within the Olympic Park in Stratford and tickets to the sports events, which EDF is likely to offer as incentives to its 12,000 UK staff. During the bidding process for the 2012 Games, EDF was accused of hedging its bets when it backed the two front-runners. It was the first commercial partner of the London bid and set up the “Leap Counter”, which encouraged people to register their support for a London Games by jumping over a barrier. The parent company is also a backer of this year’s rugby world cup in France and was involved in last year’s football world cup. Company bosses are hoping the 2012 association will enhance EDF’s image after a period of poor public relations. Last month it was attacked for not cutting prices quickly enough after wholesale gas prices fell. It raised its prices for residential customers four times in the past two years and saw sales rise 15 per cent to £1.78billion as a result. EDF Energy is also a 20 per cent shareholder in the Metronet consortium, which has come under sustained criticism for its performance in upgrading and maintaining two thirds of the Tube’s infrastructure. Despite this, chief executive Vincent de Rivaz shared a stage with Ken Livingstone for the launch of the Mayor’s London Climate Change Agency last year.

Related posts...

• June 22, 2010 -- UK Business Energy Prices: (3)
  A new survey carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit has revealed that over 80% of British firms expect energy and fuel prices to rise sharply and almost 50% have great concern that the UK coul...
• February 21, 2010 -- Identifying a Half Hour Meter: (0)
  How to find out if you have a half hourly meter – So how do you know if you have a half hour meter?  It’s actually quite straight forward, and all you will need to find this out is a recent copy o...
• February 10, 2010 -- UK Business Gas Prices: (0)
  Business Gas Prices can be difficult to understand, as there are many different types of pricing structures available.  You could simply ring around and obtain gas prices direct from suppliers, but it...
• February 7, 2010 -- Oil Prices Back To $70 Range: (0)
  Oil prices plunged in a busy trading session on Friday, triggering big losses across the commodities markets, as investors went back to buying into the US dollar.  Crude oil prices did have a partial ...
• February 5, 2010 -- CRC Business Lights: (1)
  The era of the 'on-all-night' illuminated high street could end, the Environment Agency is predicting. The agency says new rules will force businesses to switch off lights and displays at night to mee...
• February 3, 2010 -- Bglobal Smart Meter Deal: (3)
  Bglobal Plc said it has signed a new agreement to supply and install smart meters for British Gas Business during 2010. The contract value is anticipated at more than £12 million. In addition, the com...

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

CAPTCHA Code *