State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) and China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) will merge to set up the country's largest nuclear power entity, China Business Journal reported on Saturday.

The merged entity will see its total assets equivalent to the sum of China National Nuclear Corp and China General Nuclear Power Group, according to the report.

Upon the completion of the merger of the two centrally administered companies, the two firms' nuclear power businesses will get listed, said the report.

The IPO may take two to three years or less, Wang Binghua, chairman of SNPTC, was quoted by the report as saying.

Speculation about the possible merger has been frequently mentioned since April 2014, and its latest progress is disclosed by the Anti-monopoly Bureau of the Minister of Commerce in an announcement on March 18 saying that the Sate Council intends to transfer its 66 percent stake in SNPTC to CPI for free.

The merged entity would be named State Power Investment Group, with its total assets exceeding 700 billion yuan ($111.93 billion) and annual sales of over 200 billion yuan, according to media reports.

Analysts expect the merger of the two nuclear power enterprises to be a good combination of their technology, capital strength, and operational qualifications.

SNPTC was set up in 2007, equipped with third-generation nuclear power technology. The company purportedly possesses no licenses for construction and operation of nuclear power plants, while CPI has a nuclear operating license.