SSEZY SSE PLC (PK)

E.ON SE (EOAN.XE) said Wednesday that it plans to sell Innogy SE's (IGY.XE) business in the U.K. following a merger with its former rival, but denied speculation that it would cut more than the previously announced 5,000 jobs in the merger.

In the U.K., Innogy operates a loss-making subsidiary called NPower, which is currently being merged with the retail business of Scottish utility SSE PLC (SSE.LN). Through its merger with Innogy, E.ON inherits a stake in the planned NPower-SSE joint venture.

"We have no strategic interest in this financial investment," E.ON Chief Financial Officer Marc Spieker said in a conference call with journalists.

Regarding speculation about additional job cuts in the planned merger, he said "I can outright deny that. We are sticking to the statement we made earlier."

The integration of Innogy's networks and sales divisions will increase E.ON's workforce to about 70,000 employees. Of these, 5,000 jobs will be cut, but without compulsory or forced redundancies, the management agreed with unions. From 2022, the utility eyes saving of between 600 million euros and 800 million euros ($675.4 million and $900.6 million) a year.

The submission of documents to the competition authorities is imminent, Mr. Spieker said. E.ON is in "constructive talks" with the European Union and regardless of whether the officials decide on a normal or in-depth examination, the company expects the Innogy deal to be completed in mid-2019, he said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 14, 2018 06:04 ET (11:04 GMT)

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