The owners of renewable energy developer Cubico Sustainable Investments are sounding out potential buyers for the sale of the London-based company, although a formal sale process has yet to launch.

Cubico’s owners Canadian pension funds – Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) and Public Sector Pension (PSP) Investment Board – are planning a complete exit from the business and started reaching out to potential investors this May, sources familiar with the deal told Infralogic.

The market-sounding has so far drawn interest from strategic investors including those from the Middle East and financial investors seeking to expand their presence in the markets where Cubico is active, two sources said, without disclosing any names.

The sale process is yet to be officially launched, one source noted, without disclosing a timeline for the launch. Cubico’s owners are seeking to sell the renewables business “as a whole” even though the 4 GW portfolio spread out globally in markets such as Europe, the Americas and Australia, the same source added.

However, the sources also noted it might be difficult to find a large pool of possible buyers interested in the business as a whole given the sprawling asset base, and that carving out separate parts could attract more investors.

Cubico and OTPP declined to comment while PSP Investments, Bank of America and CIBC did not respond to requests for comments.

The clean energy company’s owners have been considering a sale process since mid-2023 and last December appointed Bank of America and CIBC for a strategic review process.

The renewables company, which was set up in 2015, now has over 200 assets in various markets and close to 4 GW in overall portfolio capacity (3.2 GW operational and 700 MW in construction) with an additional 6 GW projects in pipeline, according to Cubico.

Around 2019, it started doing some greenfield development in Australia and has, since then, been expanding its development capabilities in other markets, particularly in the US and Colombia.

Cubico has also been shuffling its portfolio of assets over the past year, agreeing in December 2023 to sell a portfolio of solar PV assets in Portugal to JP Morgan Asset Management-backed independent power producer Sonnedix, and in September 2023 announcing that it had completed the acquisition of three operational renewable generation projects in Uruguay from Brookfield.

This February, Cubico said it will develop 1 GW of battery storage projects in Italy through a new joint venture with Italian battery storage developer Storaltil.

In January this year, it completed the acquisition of at least 12 solar and hybrid projects across seven states in Mexico, adding 1.6 GW of generation capacity. The same month, it took control of Peel Cubico Renewables, a JV it set up with UK infrastructure investor Peel NRE. The acquisition added 350 MW of development projects, including onshore wind and solar parks, to Cubico’s pipeline in addition to a 1.7 GW feasibility pipeline across England and Scotland.

The company has been expanding its work on early-stage projects more globally, Cubico Head of Origination and Development Javier Areitio told Infralogic last October.

The company’s EBITDA was USD 641.2m in 2022, up from USD 521.5m in 2021.