Energy supplier E.ON is set to acquire residential supplier OVO for an undisclosed sum, in a move that it says will grow its core retail business and strengthen its ability to deliver value for customers, with an emphasis on flexibility.
The move will bring around 4 million OVO customers to add to E.ON’s 5.6 million customers. The parent company said:
The planned transaction is focused on the continued expansion of a customer‑centric and increasingly digital energy business. With around 7 million smart meters installed, E.ON and OVO together connect more than 60% of their customers in the UK in a fully digital manner. This high level of digitalisation provides a strong foundation for further innovation in electricity, heating and e‑mobility.
E.ON added that it plans to bring innovations to Germany and continental Europe to make intelligent energy solutions available to customers across Europe on a large scale.
The transaction is subject to approval by the regulatory authorities, with clearance expected in the second half of 2026. Until closing is achieved, E.ON and OVO will operate as two fully independent businesses.
Chris Norbury, CEO of E.ON UK (pictured above), said:
For decades the UK energy system focused too much on those upstream. Now is our opportunity to change that. Solar, batteries, EVs and a retailer built to orchestrate. That is what this deal is about: customers in control and new energy that works for everyone.”
The company stressed that for customers of both E.ON Next and OVO there will be no change during the regulatory review period and existing tariffs will be honoured in full and service will continue unchanged.
With the use of time-of-use tariffs and steerable assets such as home batteries and EV charging E.ON Next said it ‘turns homes into active participants in the energy system. Every kWh shifted, stored or self-generated is value that would otherwise have been captured somewhere else in the chain.’
The additional scale brought by the acquisition of OVO will amplify the benefit both for individual customers and for the system as a whole, the company added:
As the UK energy system evolves, flexibility will be central to keeping costs down and improving resilience. A larger, digitally native E.ON UK accelerates the shift to a customer-led energy system, making new energy work for everyone, not just for early adopters.”
Chris Norbury added:
That is the principle behind this deal. It is not about scale for its own sake. It is about building a retailer with the capability, the technology and the customer base to make new energy work for everyone. We chose OVO because it’s a modern digitally native business with great people and a shared belief that innovation is what can make energy affordable and sustainable for everyone. The future of energy is flexible, digital and customer-led. Our job is to make new energy work for everyone.”
On completion of E.ON’s acquisition of OVO Energy, E.ON will continue the existing energy intelligence platform licence agreement with Kaluza in respect of OVO’s customer base. Kaluza simplifies energy billing, reduces cost to serve and enables faster product innovation to support the energy transition. The parties will also evaluate the potential adoption of Kaluza across the wider E.ON group outside of the UK.
