Oil and gas major Shell has struck a $617 million deal to acquire business electricity retailer ERM Power, paying a 43 per cent premium to follow through on ambitions to launch itself into the broader energy retailing market in the eastern states.

It is understood that this takeover bid is part of a strategic move by Shell to learn what it can from ERM, whose customers are large businesses and industrials, to ultimately step out to compete with the likes of Origin Energy and AGL in the household consumer space.