Energy company Centrica has confirmed the sale of several European non-core businesses to raise over £80m.

The British Gas owner has sold its European energy solutions businesses in Italy and the Netherlands to Joulz, a 3i Infrastructure portfolio company, while its Hungarian business has been disposed of via a management buyout.

Centrica has also finalised the sale of Panoramic Power as part of the divestments.

Group chief executive of Centrica, Chris O’Shea, said the transactions reflect a strategy to focus resources on “core growth and innovation priorities”, which he added would better position the business to pursue new opportunities and accelerate growth in key markets.

“Building on our recent sales from Spirit Energy, these transactions demonstrate Centrica’s commitment to recycling capital from non-core assets into new investment opportunities across the group, including long-term regulated and contracted assets such as Sizewell C and Grain LNG,” O’Shea commented.

Last year, Centrica signed an agreement to take a 15% stake in the Sizewell C nuclear project in Suffolk, with committed construction funding of £1.3bn.

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