Enel : Energy group Orsted says government no longer supports power business divestment

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish energy company Orsted, 50.1 percent owned by the state, said on Sunday that the Finance Ministry had told it there was no longer political support for continuing divestment of its power distribution and residential customer businesses.

Reuters reported on Friday that Italy's Enel and the Danish utility SEAS-NVE were among at least four bidders for the business, which was put up for sale in June as Orsted said it planned to focus on developing its international renewable energy operations.

Orsted, formerly known as Dong Energy, said it would now "assess the situation and discuss the next steps" and that it was in the best interests of the company, shareholders and customers that the business was transferred to another owner.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Kevin Liffey)