French utility company GDF Suez SA is seeking to raise at least 600 million euros ($784 million) by selling large stakes in some of its European wind- and solar-energy businesses, people with direct knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.

GDF Suez, which is 36.7% owned by the French government, is about to start sounding out financial investors interested in buying as much as 60% of some of its wind- and solar-energy businesses in France and a few other countries, these people said. GDF Suez would retain a 40% interest in the roughly 1,000 megawatts of production capacity and remain industrial operator of the businesses valued at an estimated EUR1 billion, they said.

The company could issue a call for a tender in the coming days, one of these people said, adding that potential investors would be expected to submit bids by mid-July.

The French company is in a race to reduce its debt of EUR34 billion, which shot up last year when GDF Suez bought shares it didn't own in its U.K.-based arm, International Power, and struggled to boost profits in Europe . Gas-supply contracts, pegged to oil prices, have kept the company's supply costs high, while recession in the euro zone has dented consumption. Limits on regulated tariffs to help spare households' spending power in France and Belgium has also hurt the group's profit.

Late last year, GDF Suez announced plans to sell or deconsolidate more than EUR11 billion in assets in Europe and other developed markets as it aims to focus on expanding in Asia.

At the time, the company, which has a 35.5% interest in water utility Suez Environnement SA, said it won't renew a pact binding it with other shareholders, which limited GDF Suez's ability to sell shares.

The expiration this month of the 2007 pact will allow GDF Suez to stop consolidating the water company's entire debt of EUR7.9 billion in its own accounts.

In December, the company sold an 80% stake in its Italian wind-energy subsidiary, IP Maestrale, cutting its debt by EUR800 million.
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