SeaEnergy granted a period of exclusivity to a group of "major" European energy companies during which it intends to negotiate a sale of its 80 percent stake in SeaEnergy Renewables Ltd., the Aberdeen-based company said today in a statement. Stephen Remp, the executive chairman of SeaEnergy, declined to disclose further details when contacted by phone.
The unit has shares in three offshore wind projects being developed off Scotland that have a total capacity of 3,125 megawatts, according to the statement. SeaEnergy owns 781 megawatts of those.
SeaEnergy expects to sign "formal documentation" in early June and aims to complete the transaction at the end of that month, subject to shareholder approval. One of the companies in the group agreed to a loan to SeaEnergy that will be repaid by proceeds of a sale, the company said.
SeaEnergy Renewables, through partnerships with utilities, holds 25 percent stakes in the Beatrice demonstrator project in the Outer Moray Firth, the Inch Cape park in the outer Firth of Tay and the Moray Firth offshore wind project. The company, founded in 2008, is a "leading force" for offshore wind, Remp said. "But the time has come where somebody much bigger needs to back it," he said.
"We will be refocusing our attention on SeaEnergy Marine and going very heavily into services for offshore marine," Remp said. SeaEnergy put the unit up for sale last June to develop its marine service business.
