Spain bid war looms as Endesa and Iberdrola plan merger

Spain’s two biggest power companies, Endesa and Iberdrola, have agreed to a “friendly” merger in a bid to join the elite club of global energy giants and battle it out with the likes of Electricité de France, E.ON and RWE of Germany, and Italy’s Enel for European power market domination. In a joint statement last month, the two said they aimed to develop an ambitious programme of international expansion and diversification and create Europe’s fourth biggest electricity company, in terms of stock market value, with combined assets of 68 billion Euros ($58 billion) and a market capitalisation of 36.5 billion Euros($31.3 billion).