The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared the £500m deal which will see Ovo acquire SSE’s household energy, home services and telecoms business.

Ovo Energy expects the deal to complete in January 2020 and means it will be propelled into the ‘big six’ energy suppliers along with British Gas, Npower, EDF Energy, Scottish Power and E.ON.

Until then, the two energy firms remain competitors while they work together to plan how SSE will be incorporated into Ovo.

Following the sale, the SSE brands will continue to operate as normal, so customers shouldn’t see any immediate changes and no interruption to service.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, CEO and founder of OVO, said: “We’re delighted with the CMA’s decision and look forward to bringing SSE into the OVO family.

“There is a lot of work to be done, but we’re excited about the challenge ahead and the opportunity to help even more customers on the journey to zero carbon.”

Ovo announced its plans to buy SSE’s household energy business in September this year. SSE previously had plans to merge with Npower last year but the deal was scrapped after the companies failed to reach an agreement on financial contributions to support the combined entity.