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Scottish Government and Iberdrola
24/02/2008
The Scottish Government has expressed its concern over any takeover bid for Spanish company Iberdrola, the owner of ScottishPower.
First Minister Alex Salmond said:
"There has been some recent speculation about a possible takeover bid for Iberdrola-ScottishPower. I would not normally comment on such speculation but I want to make very clear that the Scottish Government would have concerns which would need to be addressed if any such bid were to be made.
"We are in an energy market in Scotland and the UK where there are a relatively small number of energy providers. There are already legitimate concerns about the impact of the current market situation on consumers at a time of rising fuel prices. If a proposed takeover would reduce the number of companies operating in the market, I would ensure that our concerns were raised with the competition authorities in the UK and indeed the EU.
"We have an excellent relationship with Iberdrola-Scottish Power. Their current management structure provides considerable autonomy to Scottish Power. Their substantial planned investment will assist in meeting the Scottish Government's targets of 50% of electricity demand coming from renewable sources by 2020. Their ambitions for clean coal also align with our objectives. While a takeover does not necessarily mean that planned investment would not continue it could introduce much unhelpful uncertainty.
"Scottish Power is a major employer and contributor to the Scottish Economy. I do not want to see any developments occur which would put that at risk.
"I have spoken to the Spanish Minister for Energy on these issues reflecting our concern for these matters."