China merger creating world's largest power company

China’s creating the world’s largest power company. The government approved the merger of Shenhua Group, the country’s top coal miner, with China Guodian, among its largest power generators, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said Monday. With assets of 1.8 trillion yuan ($271 billion), the new entity will be the world’s second-biggest company by revenue and largest by installed capacity, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The Shenhua-Guodian tie-up may be the first among a handful of possible mergers in China’s power industry as top policy makers try to cut industrial overcapacity and the number of state-owned enterprises. Monday’s announcement concludes months of speculation about the combination, first reported by Bloomberg in June. Shenhua Group, which will change its name to China Energy Investment, will absorb Guodian Group and become the parent of the reorganized entity, the listed units of both companies said in separate Hong Kong filings.