O2 Vind scraps flotation plans due to weak demand from investors.

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Just two weeks ago Swedish wind power company O2 Vind AB, that builds wind farms and sells electricity produced by wind power, said it aimed to raise 1.150 million kronor ($160 million) in a new issue via an initial public stock offering.

First day of trading on the exchange was planned for today, March 22.

Now the board of directors has decided to withdraw the proposed listing, as the demand from investors was not sufficient.

“As the interest has not proved satisfactory to provide O2 with a broad shareholder base and to ensure a successful trading in the share after listing, we will now continue as a privately held and profitable company”, the wind power company’s chief executiove officer Johan Ihrfelt, said in a statement.

“With support of our shareholders, we will continue the development of wind power in Sweden, perhaps at a slightly lower pace”.


Also Arise Windpower, that sells green electricity produced by its own land-based wind turbines, has announced its intention to float the company on the Stockholm stock exchange, Nasdaq OMX, and to raise 550 million kronor ($76 million) in a new issue.

Although wind power is widely said to be one of tomorrow's most important energy sources it's still hard to raise money for needful investments.

"Since the financial crisis began it's been very difficult to obtain financing for wind power projects. That has led many companies to go other ways than talking to their banks, making the equity market a good solution”, Jacob Pedersen, senior aviation analyst at Danish Sydbank, told The Swedish Wire two weeks ago.

“Stock market listings are still a symptom of difficulties obtaining financing. Broadly speaking, financing has been a huge problem for wind power companies”.

The Swedish center-right government aims to have a output of renewable energy amounting to 50 percent of energy needs by 2020.

Sweden today has the EU's highest proportion of renewable energy production.