GDF Suez is looking to reduce its debt by at least £510million by selling off stakes in its European solar and wind power generation assets, according to reports today.
The French utilities company is considering the sales, expecting potential investors to submit their bids by mid-July.
GDF would still look to retain 40% of its stakes in the renewables’ businesses – equating to around 1,000MW of production capacity.
The sale of an 80% stake in its Italian wind-energy subsidiary, IP Maestrale, last December cut GDF’s debt by 800million Euros (£680million).
The same month the company said it would sell a 60% stake in its Canadian wind and solar projects, which have an enterprise value of 1.5billion euros, to Japan’s Mitsui and Fiera Axium Infrastructure.
In February the company announced plans to sell a further 11billion euros of its assets in 2013-14, helping to cut net debt to 30billion euros by the end of 2014.
The company’s pro forma debt, adjusted for the planned deconsolidation of water unit Suez Environment, stood at 34.1billion euros at the end of March.