According to a report from the Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK, the two major power companies in Scotland, SSE and ScottishPower, have seriously considered merging their operations in recent months.
The newspaper said that the Perth and Glasgow-headquartered utilities came as close to combining forces as to hold talks in the early part of summer. Apparently, ScottishPower CEO Philip Bowman and his SSE counterpart Ian Marchant negotiated the preliminary aspects of a GBP20 billion merger during a series of meetings.
Although no firm merger agreement emerged from the negotiations, a source close to the issue told the newspaper that the option was open to return to the issue in the future.
A merger between the two Scottish energy titans has long been mooted as both companies continue to be linked with foreign takeover speculation and their combination would be likely to ward off unwanted suitors.