NORTHERN Electric and Innogy have completed an innovative swap deal.

The £1bn agreement sees Northern acquire Innogy's Yorkshire Electricity distribution business, while Innogy takes over Northern's supply operations.

Northern Electric and Gas will be responsible for the distribution network, while Innogy will be responsible for metering and billing and the sale of electricity and gas.

The acquisition of Yorkshire will create a distribution business serving more than 3.6 million customers.

Northern Electric's supply business, with more than 1.5 million customers, takes Innogy's total customer base to seven million. It now holds a 25 per cent share of the domestic electricity market and an eight per cent share of gas.

There are likely to be job losses as a result of the transaction, but a spokesman for Innogy said it was too early to discuss how many.

Northern Electric and Gas is the UK subsidiary of US group MidAmerican Energy Holdings.