Centrica extends Venture bid deadline

LONDON (Reuters) - British utility Centrica (CNA.L) on Thursday said it had extended the deadline for its bid for Venture Production (VPC.L) until August 28 and that it had received acceptances for 40.8 percent of Venture's shares.

Centrica last month made a bid of $2 billion, or 845 pence per share, for North Sea gas producer Venture, which was rejected by management, and set a deadline of August 13 for the offer to be accepted.

Centrica said in a statement on Thursday that the offer "would remain open for acceptance until the next closing date which will be 1200 GMT on August 28."

The company, which owns 29.9 percent of Venture's share capital, also said it had received acceptances representing 40.8 percent of Venture's shares -- or 35.2 percent on a diluted basis.

Earlier this month Centrica said a report into Venture by an independent consulting firm lacked credibility and that its valuation of the firm was overly optimistic.

Shares in Centrica closed 1.57 percent down at 219.9 pence on Thursday, while Venture's shares closed 0.3 percent down at 838.5 pence.

(Reporting by Rhys Jones; editing by Paul Sandle)