With a focus on developing renewable projects, SSE had agreed to sell its retail energy business to Ovo Energy in September last year
SSE CEO Alistair Phillips-Davies. (Credit: SSE)
Scottish energy company SSE has completed the sale of its Great Britain household energy and services company SSE Energy Services to Ovo Energy for a value of £500m.
The deal was announced last September and the necessary regulatory approvals have been secured to complete the sale.
With the deal closure, SSE will strengthen its focus on delivering the low-carbon infrastructure required to help the UK achieve net-zero emissions.
For more than a decade, the company has been investing in low-carbon, renewable energy projects, which include onshore wind farms in the north of Scotland and one of the largest offshore wind farms in the UK, the Dogger Bank.
SSE Energy Services’ 8,000 employees will be transferred to OVO Energy
With the completion of the acquisition, all of SSE Energy Services’ 8,000 employees will be transferred to OVO Energy.
SSE Energy Services is claimed to have a customer base of 5 million, supplying gas and electricity across the UK.
SSE CEO Alistair Phillips-Davies said: “We are very pleased to be completing this transaction, which we firmly believe is the best outcome for the business, its customers and its employees.
“The sale is in line with our clear strategy, centred on developing, operating and owning renewable energy and electricity network assets, along with growing businesses complementary to this core.
“SSE enters the new decade as a more focused group, even better positioned to lead the low carbon transformation required to achieve the UK’s vital net zero commitment in the years to come.”
Proceeds from the deal will be used for reducing SSE’s net debt.
The deal includes £400m in cash and £100m in loan notes, which will be issued by a member of the OVO group.
The deal was agreed on ‘locked box’ mechanism, under which the date of transfer of the economic interest in SSE Energy Services was last June.
OVO CEO and founder Stephen Fitzpatrick said: “Today is an exciting day. It marks the end of one chapter for OVO but, more importantly, the beginning of the next one together with the SSE Energy Services business. We started OVO with a bold ambition to do better for customers and have stayed true to that vision ever since.
“SSE’s history of excellence at scale combined with OVO’s innovative technology and our Plan Zero commitments mean that together, as one team, we can bring millions more people with us on our journey towards zero carbon living.”