SSE investors expected to agree Npower tie-up

Shareholders in Perth utility SSE are this week expected to give the green light to plans to merge its retail supply operations with rival Npower.

In a vote to be staged after the firm’s annual general meeting (Agm)inthecityonthursday, investors will vote on two resolutions which will enable the tie-up to go ahead.

SSE’S chairman Richard Gillingwater has urged shareholders to vote through the deal, arguing it has “strong strategic logic” and the potential to deliver significant benefits for the business and its customers.

Under the plans, SSE will retain its generation and networks businesses.

George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said although the group is confident of £175 million of synergies in the move, “as ever with mergers, there’s no guarantee the ‘on paper’ savings make it to reality.”

SSE will also provide an update on first-quarter trading at the AGM.