Spain renewables group probes possible IPO -source

MADRID, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Spanish renewable energy group Eolia is revisiting the possibility of a stockmarket listing, nearly three years after it scrapped a planned IPO due to market conditions, a source close to the process said on Tuesday.

Eolia, which builds and operates wind and solar parks in Europe and Mexico, has hired Goldman Sachs to evaluate potential demand for its shares from investors, the source told Reuters.

'They are sounding out the market for a possible listing ... more to give the company visibility than for financing projects, which they have no problems with,' the source said.

The wind and solar group's owners are considering restricting potential bidders for its shares to qualified institutional investors, the source said.

Eolia, which is controlled by risk capital group Nmas1 but partly owned by several Spanish banks, reported core earnings of 63 million euros on sales of 82 million in the first nine months of 2009.

It won permission from Spain in 2009 to build 631 megawatts of wind farms in Spain to 2013 and receive tariffs for the power it generates from them under the country's previous attractive subsidy regime for renewable energy.

(Reporting by Carlos Ruano; writing by Jonathan Gleave, editing by Will Waterman) Keywords: SPAIN IPO/ ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.