Macquarie has cancelled the sale of one of the world's largest offshore wind power developers, due to lack of interest, two people with knowledge of the process said, amid opposition against the renewable energy source by the Trump administration.
The decision comes as dealmaking has been shuttered by the global tariff war that has roiled markets.
Macquarie engaged advisers last year to find a buyer for Corio Generation, which oversees 25 gigawatt (GW) pipeline of offshore wind projects spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas, Reuters reported in October. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
Instead it will downsize the project. "Given challenging market conditions in the offshore wind sector, Corio Generation is refocusing its global operations to prioritise the development of a smaller portfolio of projects which have the clearest route through to construction," a spokesperson for Corio told Reuters.
"This will also require a restructure of the organisation to reflect that change in strategy. We are discussing this with our project partners and staff who may be affected by these changes," the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson for Macquarie declined to comment.
The offshore wind market has become increasingly challenging with many projects having to be revaluated due to rocketing construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain snags.
Energy companies have slowed construction of offshore wind farms in the U.S., specially since U.S. President Donald Trump suspended new offshore wind leasing on his first day back in the Oval Office in January.
Headquartered in London, Corio is a portfolio company of Macquarie Asset Management with offshore wind farms in Britain, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the United States and Brazil.
Most of Corio's projects are in development phase and need billions of dollars in investments to become operational.
Corio Generation changed its CEO earlier this year when Jonathan Cole was replaced by Samuel Leupold.
(Reuters - Reporting by Andres Gonzalez, editing by Anousha Sakoui and David Evans)
