NTR HAS pulled the sale of its waste management subsidiary, Greenstar. It is understood that two parties were left standing when the Jim Barry-led NTR decided to called a halt to the process recently.

These are thought to have been State-owned Bord na Móna, which owns waste player AES, and the Philip Lynch-led One51, which itself is a shareholder in NTR.

Sources indicated that a price “north of €160 million” had been sought by NTR but indicative bids failed to come up to this level.

Reports had suggested NTR valued the business at up to €250 million.

NTR’s focus is firmly on renewable energy projects in the US and it was prepared to offload Greenstar if the right offer was put on the table and invest the proceeds in the US.

I’m told Greenstar, which also has operations in Britain, is now focusing on ploughing its own furrow. The recession has affected waste groups, too, with the amount of rubbish being sent to landfill estimated to have declined by 10 per cent annually.