Airtricity founder Dr Eddie O'Connor is seeking financial support for a bid to take control of the company's European wind farms, which are on the market with a likely price of more than €1 billion. Una McCaffrey, Arthur Beesleyand Barry O'Halloranreport.
The company's European assets were put up for sale last month, weeks after its US wind farms were sold to German utility giant Eon for €1 billion.
Eon is considered a likely bidder, as is its fellow German utility RWE, the French energy group EdF and Italian group ENI.
Australian investment group Babcock & Brown, Eircom's owner, is also believed to have examined the business.
A former chief executive of Bord na Móna, Dr O'Connor, owns 4 per cent of Airtricity. He is said to have approached banks in London in recent days with a view to raising money for a formal bid for the European business.
It is unclear if any business people or companies have agreed to support his bid before he completes a funding arrangement.
However, he is believed to have enlisted support from some members of Airtricity's management team. Excluding Dr O'Connor's personal stake, executives in the company own 12 per cent of the business.
Utility group NTR is Airtricity's biggest shareholder, with a 51 per cent stake in the business.
Alternative energy fund Ecofin owns 16 per cent of Airtricity, and the balance is held by private investors.
NTR is mulling a return of as much as €400 million to investors next year if the European wind farms are sold off.
With formal bids due this week, NTR declined yesterday to comment on the sale.
"A process is under way. The company has already stated that it will make an announcement in due course. The company is not commenting on the process," said a spokesman.
Airtricity is considered a likely beneficiary of a British government plan to radically increase its offshore wind-energy production by 2020. However, the company received a setback yesterday when the Scottish executive rejected its bid to build a €100 million wind farm on a highlands estate owned by businessman Mohamed Al Fayed.
Airtricity had been seeking plans to build a 23-turbine electricity-generating wind farm on Mr Al Fayed's Invercassley estate in Sutherland in the highlands.
The regional authority refused the Irish group permission earlier this year. It emerged yesterday that the Scottish executive has dismissed Airtricity's appeal against this ruling.
The Edinburgh administration ruled that the planned development was unacceptable for the area. Its ruling said that "the impacts on the landscape and visual amenity, considered individually, made the proposal unacceptable.
"Considered together, the proposal is incompatible with both Highland council and Scottish government planning policy.
" There are no material considerations that justify allowing the appeal as the site is not a suitable location for this development."
