CHRONOLOGY-The ups and downs of bid target British Energy

(Reuters) - Nuclear operator British Energy has agreed to be taken over by French utility EDF for around 775 pence a share, a source told Reuters on Friday.

Following is a chronology on the ups and downs of British Energy:

July 1996 - British Energy privatised. It owns eight nuclear power stations and one coal-fired plant.

May 2002 - British Energy reports a 493 million pound pretax loss but surprises analysts by continuing to pay a dividend to shareholders.

August 13, 2002 - The company closes Scottish Torness reactors because of technical problems and slashes its electricity output forecast for the year. Shares fall nearly 30 percent.

September 5, 2002 - Shares suspended after the company says it may face insolvency because of low power prices. Seeks state support.

September 9, 2002 - Government gives it a 410 million pound loan. Shares resume trading, fall 65 percent.

October 1, 2002 - Belgium complains to European Commission over UK aid to British Energy.

September 22, 2004 - The European Commission clears a government-backed bailout agreed in 2003 giving bondholders more than 90 percent of the restructured company's equity in a 1.3 billion pound debt-for-equity swap. A British court approves the deal in January 2005.