Macquarie ups stake in Idaho wind farm

Macquarie Infrastructure has increased its stake in Idaho Wind Partners, a 183MW power generation project, to 72.4%.

Macquarie Infrastructure Company (MIC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sydney-based asset manager Macquarie Group, has acquired an additional 62.4 percent interest in Idaho Wind Partners (IWP), a 183-megawatt (MW) power generation project near Twin Falls, Idaho, for an undisclosed amount.

Macquarie acquired the 62.4 percent stake from GE Financial Services, a source told Infrastructure Investor, adding to the initial 10 percent MIC had acquired last August. Boston-based Atlantic Power holds the remaining 27.6 percent.

IWP is the second wind power generation company Macquarie has invested in to date. The firm made its first investment in the sector last July with the acquisition of a 19.8MW wind farm in New Mexico.

“We continue to find opportunities to deploy capital in attractive transactions across our businesses,” MIC chief executive James Hooke said in a statement. “Some of these, including those announced today, are not individually material, but clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of our teams in finding and executing on investments that create value for our shareholders,” he added.

In addition to the IWP acquisition, Macquarie also announced that its airport services subsidiary, Atlantic Aviation, has agreed to acquire the Showalter Flying Service fixed base operation at Orlando Executive Airport.

If approved by the Greater Orlando Airport Authority, Showalter will increase the number of locations in the Atlantic Aviation portfolio to 69. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.

Based in New York, MIC owns, operates and invests in a diversified group of infrastructure businesses including a gas processing and distribution business, Hawaii Gas, Direct Energy, and MIC Solar.