May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA, Europe’s biggest power producer, said the sale of a stake in its British Energy division to Centrica Plc for less than it paid for the whole company last year won’t lead to asset writedowns.

EDF faces “no risk” of depreciation in British Energy’s value because the price difference is “quasi symbolic,” Chief Executive Officer Pierre Gadonneix said today on a conference call. “The spread is very small,” he said, adding that EDF doesn’t need a capital increase.

EDF dropped the most in more than two months in Paris trading today on concern it may have to write down the value of nuclear operator British Energy, which it bought for 12.5 billion pounds ($18.9 billion) following a September accord. Centrica agreed to pay 2.3 billion pounds and cede Belgian assets to get a 20 percent stake, it said today in a statement.

The 6 percent discount is “consistent” with Centrica’s position as a minority shareholder in British Energy, Paris- based EDF said in a separate statement.

“To avoid a big price drop on British Energy and a very damaging impairment test, EDF and Centrica came up with a cunning overall package,” Patrice Lambert-de Diesbach, an analyst at CM-CIC Securities, said today in a note to clients. The deal may weigh on EDF shares, he added.

EDF fell as much as 5.1 percent, the biggest decline since March 2, and traded down 4.5 percent at 34.82 euros as of 2:44 p.m. Paris time.

‘Alleviate’ Debt

The deal with Centrica will “alleviate” EDF debt, Gadonneix said today, confirming that additional asset disposals of 5 billion euros are still planned.

“It’s too early to give any information” on which assets will be sold, Gadonneix said. The French utility and Germany’s E.ON AG are in talks on unspecified asset swaps, he added.

EDF said in February it will focus on cutting net financial debt by at least 5 billion euros this year and next following acquisitions. As well as buying British Energy, it agreed in December to acquire half the atomic power business of Constellation Energy Group Inc. for $4.5 billion.

The two purchases helped swell net debt to 24.5 billion euros, from 16.3 billion euros at the end of 2007.

Centrica had previously planned to buy a 25 percent stake in British Energy for 774 pence a share, equivalent to 3.1 billion pounds, the same per-share price EDF agreed to pay for the whole company.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 11, 2009 09:11 EDT