Octopus Energy is said to be in talks with Co-op Energy for a deal which could see Octopus’ customer numbers surpass one million.
First reported in The Times, the two suppliers are allegedly in talks for a merger which would see Octopus acquire some – or all – of Co-op Energy’s customers.
When contacted by Current±, Octopus did not confirm or deny whether talks were taking place with Co-op Energy, but a spokesperson said that there are “many companies” in discussion with Octopus at any given time about a variety of potential partnerships.
Octopus has been growing steadily since its launch in 2016 and, alongside the likes of OVO and Bulb, is considered a major challenger to the Big Six.
In the past year, it picked up 22,000 customers from the acquisition of Affect Energy and took on 100,000 customers from Iresa after the supplier collapsed in August 2018.
The supplier has also racked up a series of partnerships in the EV space, having launched the Powerloop bundle with Wallbox and collaborated with ABB for the launch of an EV charging ‘one-stop-shop’.
The news also comes little more than a week after it was revealed that OVO was in talks to acquire the energy supply business of SSE which, with around 5.6 million customers, would catapult OVO to become the country’s second-largest energy supplier behind British Gas.
With Bulb also continuing to experience meteoric growth, the UK’s supply market looks set for perhaps its most significant period of change since it was privatised in 1990.
Co-op Energy, run by the Midcounties Co-operative, has made purchases of its own in recent years, acquiring Flow Energy in April 2018.
The market is currently looking turbulent for suppliers, however, as last week Solarplicity became the 12th independent supplier to cease trading in the last two years.
