LONDON (AP) — Centrica PLC, the owner of British Gas, struck a £2.3 billion ($3.5 billion) deal with Electricite de France SA yesterday to take a stake in EDF's nuclear business in Britain, ending months of wrangling over price.

Centrica will pick up a 20 percent stake in nuclear power operator British Energy from EDF in return for £1.1 billion in cash and Centrica's 51 percent stake in Belgian power generator SPE, which is valued at £1.2 billion.

EDF and Centrica said they've also agreed to set up a joint venture controlled 80 percent by the French side to build and operate four new longer-lasting EPR reactors in Britain, a type of pressurised water reactor similar to those already in operation in nuclear industry-reliant France.

Creating a partnership to build a new generation of nuclear power stations across Britain helps insure Centrica against volatile energy prices and reduces EDF's exposure to regulatory scrutiny after its £12.5 billion takeover of British Energy agreed last year.

Critics had questioned the decision to transfer control of a key industry to a company which is 85 percent owned by the French government.