Competition authority NMa probably needs another six months before it can make a decision on the proposed merger of the two biggest Dutch energy concerns, Essent and Nuon. This means the merger will not be able to be put to the companies’ local government shareholders this summer as planned.

Making the announcement during Tuesday’s presentation of its annual report, NMA chief Pieter Kalbfleisch said: ‘Nuon and Essent are two very big players and there are not so many players on this market. It is a case which we have to look at very carefully.’
While a ruling on the merger is not dependent on whether Essent and Nuon have to separate their production and transport activities, such a move could mean the companies will have to adjust their merger application, said Kalbfleisch.
The merger between Essent and Nuon was first mooted in June 2007 and was made official in February this year.