Renewable energy firm SeaEnergy PLC (SEA.LN) Friday said it is seeking a buyer for its wind farm development unit and will focus instead on servicing offshore turbines, after investors balked at funding its projects off the U.K. coast.

Chairman Steve Remp told Dow Jones Newswires SeaEnergy has received several approaches for its SeaEnergy Renewables Ltd. unit over the past year and is confident it will be able to do a deal.

The unit owns stakes in wind farm licenses at the Moray Firth and Inch Cape off the coast of Scotland, and analysts said utility companies that haven't yet managed to get a foothold in the U.K. offshore wind power market could be likely bidders.

Nomura Code Securities analyst Ken Rumph said SeaEnergy Renewables could represent "a unique opportunity" for power firms that missed out on recent wind farm licensing rounds.

However, investors reacted badly to news of the planned sale and at 0953 GMT, shares in SeaEnergy were down 6.75 pence or 19% at 28.75 pence, making it one of the biggest fallers in a 0.3% higher Alternative Investment Market.

Remp said SeaEnergy decided to sell SeaEnergy Renewables Ltd. because investors weren't interested in providing the funding it needed to develop its wind farm sites over the next three or four years.

SeaEnergy needed roughly GBP50 million for preparatory work before it and its partners, which include Portuguese wind power firm EDP Renovaveis S/A (EDPR.LB), could begin building turbines, said Remp.

Equity investors weren't willing to stump up the funds, Remp said. He blamed markets' current risk aversion and investors' unwillingness to get involved in projects that would take many years to deliver returns.

Remp didn't say how much SeaEnergy hopes to make from a sale, but SeaEnergy wants to keep a small stake in the unit and will spend the proceeds on its fledgling marine services business set up to fix and maintain the giant turbines.

The proceeds will be used to purchase equipment, charter vessels, hire staff and for working capital, Remp said.

The U.K. is the largest offshore wind generator in the world and about GBP100 billion is expected to be invested in offshore wind projects over the next decade. Developers include utilities like Scottish & Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN), Centrica PLC (CNA.LN) and Germany's RWE AG (RWE.XE).

Remp said one of the problems wind farm developers will face is getting access to their turbines for servicing and maintenance. SeaEnergy's specialized vessels and services will help tackle this, he said.

The services business also has the potential to generate earnings and cash flow much quicker than developing wind farms, Remp added.

-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272; jason.douglas@dowjones.com
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