China's energy giants' merger rumor denied by both

Two Chinese state-owned enterprises that are the subject to rumors of a possible merger have denied any knowledge of the deal, according to media reports.

Shenhua Group Corporation. [File photo: ccstock.cn]

The country's largest coal producer Shenhua Group Corp told China Economic Net on Thursday that it hadn't received any information on the possible merger.

On the same day, power generator China Datang Corp said it had no information on the merger with Shenhua Group either, China News Service reports.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the China's state-owned enterprise regulator had asked the two companies to discuss a merger.

A deal cannot be guaranteed though as the talks are only at an early stage, according to Bloomberg.

China Datang Corporation, one of the country's five power generation enterprise groups. [File photo: sogou.com]

After the news broke out, China Datang Corporation shares surged by the 10 percent daily limit, and Shenhua Group's closing price moved slightly higher on Thursday.

Shenhua Group saw a net profit of 22.7 billion yuan (about 3.3 billion USD) and declared a generous dividend of 59 billion yuan (about 8.6 billion USD) last year, which has been the focus of attention in markets, reports China Economic Net.

Frequent personnel changes among the management in the company have also increased speculation that it may carry out a merger.

China Datang Corporation, one of the country's five power generation enterprise groups, increased its total assets to 729.5 billion yuan (about 106 billion USD) in 2015.