Merger talks between the two largest Dutch energy concerns Essent and Nuon have been put on hold, reports today’s Financieele Dagblad.

The newspaper says anonymous sources within and outside the companies have confirmed that all preparations for the proposed merger, announced in February, have been at a standstill for several weeks.
The supervisory board of Nuon is to meet today to discuss the impasse but the chance that the merger will go ahead is seen as small.
The biggest problem is that Nuon is not happy with the proposed division of shares in the merged company which would give it 45% of the new combine.
Nuon has pointed out that it made €514m net profit in the first half of this year compared to Essent’s €483m.
But Essent refuses to discuss a bigger share for Nuon, the paper says.
The problem of getting approval for the merger from the competition authority also plays a role in the current deadlock between Essent and Nuon.
Combined, the company would be worth 24 billion euros.
The paper also claims there is friction between Nuon’s top executives Oystein Loseth and Peter Erich and the charman of Essent Michiel Boersma who is to head the joint company.