Centrica to sell North Sea business

The UK utility is confident of interest in its stake in Spirit Energy E&P arm

Centrica will initiate a process shortly to sell its 69pc stake in Spirit Energy, its North Sea upstream business, with the goal of completing the sale by the end of 2020. The firm says it has engaged its largest minority partner in Spirit, German utility Stadtwerke Muenchen (SWM), and SWM is "fully aligned" with its sale plans. "Naturally, I alerted [SWM] that we were entering a process," says Centrica CEO Iain Conn. "[The minority shareholders] have a right to stay in—we cannot drag them into [a sale]. But they can also tag along." Conn says the dialogue so far has been constructive and their relationship is good. But ultimately it is up to decision makers such as the city of Munich, SWM's