Invesco – the investment company that owns 15% of British Energy and 5% of Centrica has discussed with the Government the possibility of a merger between the two energy companies. While the Government declined to comment on the talks which took place on Tuesday, Head of Investment at Invesco said in a newspaper interview that a merger between the 2 was an obvious solution. The obvious element is the fact that BE has significant generation but lacks customers while Centrica has a significant customer base (via British Gas) but is seeking to increase its upstream assets. The concerns, of course, come from the ‘lack-of-competition’ camp with further consolidation making it tougher on new entrants. To date the Government has indicated EdF as a favoured suitor for BE due to its nuclear expertise