UK Retailers' Merger Cleared, Board Named

UK anti-trust regulator, the Competition & Markets Authority, has approved the merger between SSE Retail and Innogy subsidiary Npower after a "thorough review", it said October 10. It had provisionally cleared it early last month.

Welcoming the decision, Innogy said the transaction has been approved by SSE stakeholders and the designated CEO Katie Bickerstaffe, designated CFO Gordon Boyd and designated chairman Martin Read are all now in place. The designated executive committee has also now been appointed and preparations for the new company continue, subject to necessary legal restrictions.

The CMA decision comes after a provisional clearance from the inquiry group of independent panel members, who investigated how the merger would affect householders. The group specifically examined competition concerns around how the deal would impact 'standard variable tariffs' (SVT).

Following a period of consultation, the CMA has decided to clear the merger after finding that SSE and Npower are not close rivals for customers on these tariffs. The inquiry group found that: "With many energy companies out there, people switching away from expensive standard variable tariffs will still have plenty of choice when they shop around after this merger."

The CMA found that the number of people switching energy provider is the highest in a decade and the proportion on SVTs has fallen, with customers usually switching to a cheaper, non-SVT, tariff. And Ofgem's price cap is also expected to protect people on standard variable tariffs, it said.