BP decides against spinning off green energy units

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil major BP (BP.L) has decided against spinning off its investments in green and alternative energy and will instead try and boost the impact of the investments on its shares by giving analysts more data.

In February, Chief Executive Tony Hayward said BP's shares had received little, if any, uplift from its investments in renewable energy, while these would be worth between $5 billion and $7 billion if they existed on a standalone basis.

"We've looked at IPO options and we've looked at partner options, we've looked at other options, but at this point we've decided to keep these businesses within BP," Vivienne Cox, head of the Alternative Energy unit, told a conference call with analysts.

Cox said further data on the units would be provided to investors and analysts in February next year, which she hoped would give greater financial transparency on the units.

Some energy companies, mainly utilities, have partially floated their wind energy units to take advantage of strong investor interest and high stockmarket valuations for green energy assets.

(Editing by Will Waterman)