Crawley-based power company Seeboard is being put up for sale by its US owner, it emerged today.

Ohio-based American Electric Power has appointed advisers to look into shedding the firm, which sells electricity and gas to two million UK customers, most in Kent, Sussex and Surrey.

There has been speculation that Seeboard could fetch up to £1.5 billion.

Rumoured potential bidders could include Electricit de France, which owns London Electricity; Italy's Enel; Scottish & Southern; or Powergen, which is being bought by German utility E.ON.

AEP acquired Crawley-based Seeboard as part of its merger with US utility Central and South West in June 2000. CWS acquired Seeboard in 1996.

AEP said because of accounting restrictions stemming from the merger, any deal over Seeboard was not expected until the third quarter of this year.

Pat Hemlepp, AEP's director of corporate media relations, said no sale would go ahead before June and it was too early to know if there would be any job implications.

He said: "If a decision was made to sell Seeboard, those decisions would be up to the acquiring company."

Mr Hemlepp stressed the decision to look into selling the firm was not due to it under-performing.

He said: "Seeboard has performed very well for us in the year-and-a-half it has been with us.

"It has a very good reputation from everything I have read.

"Seeboard is a very good retail provider for energy and we think it could fit into somebody else's strategy closer than ours."