Citing favorable market conditions, St. Louis-based developer Wind Capital Group (WCG) has hired Marathon Capital to sell the Post Rock and Lost Creek wind farms, WCG's primary assets.
According to WCG, the wind farms comprise 350 MW of operating assets with long-term offtake contracts. The sale process will formally launch later this month, with bids from interested parties due in 2015. If a sale is completed, WCG will move to wind down its business and exit the market.
‘Wind Capital Group has been successfully winding down its greenfield development business in the United States and right sizing itself for long-term operations of its two projects,’ explains David Boyce, CEO at WCG. ‘As part of a continual assessment of value optimization, we have determined, with our shareholders and Marathon, that the market for selling U.S. operational wind projects is very favorable and that the profile and quality of the two wind projects should be attractive to a wide range of potential purchasers. If the results of our sale process yield results reasonably consistent with our analysis, we will move to conclude a sale in the first half of 2015.’
Founded by Tom Carnahan in 2005, Wind Capital Group quickly found its footing in Missouri. Carnahan, the son of Missouri's former governor and senator, had name recognition and a great story to tell in renewable energy. As an independent wind developer, the company quickly struck business partnerships with John Deere and Associated Electric. In time, the company launched the state's first four wind projects.
In 2008, WCG took on an investment from the Dublin, Ireland-based NTR, a development and infrastructure fund and the former majority owner in the wind developer Airtricity. Over time, Carnahan stepped away from WCG and by 2012, NTR had purchased Carnahan's remaining interest in the company.Â
