By Andres Gonzalez, Sarah McFarlane and Sergio Goncalves
LONDON (Reuters) – Portugal’s main power utility EDP initiated merger discussions with London-listed peer SSE earlier this year, but talks did not progress, three people with familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The proposed deal would have created one of Europe’s largest utilities, with the companies’ combined market value exceeding $44 billion, though still smaller than leaders Iberdrola and Enel.
EDP made the approach before the summer, driven by the prospect of creating an asset portfolio that would be broader in scope, two of the people said. SSE’s management declined the proposal, preferring to focus on investing to grow the company independently, the people added.
Talks ended around June, one of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
EDP declined to comment. SSE said it does not comment on market speculation.
(Reporting by Andres Gonzales and Sarah McFarlane in London and Sergio Goncalves in Lisbon. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Elisa Martinuzzi.)
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