Sharp Corp. is seeking to sell its U.S. solar-energy development unit Recurrent Energy.
The electronics maker has retained Bank of Nova Scotia to help shop San Francisco-based Recurrent, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg.
The deal is Sharp's latest step back from the solar industry. The company stopped making panels in the United States and Britain this year and pulled out of an Italian panel-manufacturing joint venture.
Profit from Sharp's energy unit plunged 97 percent in its first fiscal quarter as its residential solar sales slumped in Japan.
Sharp bought Recurrent in 2010 for $305 million. Selling the unit would help the company raise capital.
Recurrent has developed and sold more than 680 megawatts of projects in the U.S. and Canada, and has more than 4.3 gigawatts under development, according to the company.
Sharp had sought bids from other Japanese trading and energy companies, Kyodo News reported Aug. 1.
Google Inc. and KKR & Co. agreed in November to buy six Recurrent solar projects in California and Arizona in a $400 million transaction.