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MILAN, March 26 (Reuters) - Italy's Prysmian PRY.MI forecast on Wednesday an almost two-thirds surge in core profit by 2028 as the world's largest cable maker taps the AI-driven boom for data centres and cashes in on more than $5 billion of U.S. acquisitions.

Prysmian in January ditched plans for a U.S. plant to make cables for offshore wind parks, a day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump - a vocal critic of wind power.

A source close to the company said at the time the decision was not political, but due to a weak U.S. market outlook for wind farms, and would not affect its overall U.S. growth plans.

Prysmian, which later on Wednesday presents its new long-term strategy and financial targets to investors and analysts in New York, said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy U.S. connectivity device manufacturer Channell for up to $1.15 billion.

Channell manufactures plastic and metal enclosures, copper wire connectors, fibre-optic cable management systems and thermal management products at three U.S. plants. Its products complement Prysmian's digital solution cables, helping the group bolster its presence in the industry.

Prysmian will be "best placed to capture growth in the market, which is being boosted by digitalisation and the roll-out of AI," CEO Massimo Battaini said on Wednesday, commenting on the Channell deal.

It follows last year's $4.2 billion acquisition of U.S. cable maker firm Encore Wire, which expanded the group's footprint in North America, its most profitable market.

In January, Trump announced that OpenAI, SoftBank Group 9984.T and Oracle ORCL.N would invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure over the next four years to help the U.S. stay ahead of China and other rivals in the global AI race.

His plan to end federal support for offshore wind farms, meanwhile, has dealt a major blow to an already-struggling industry.

Prysmian, which is considering a secondary listing of its shares in New York, said it was targeting adjusted core earnings (EBITDA) of up to 3.15 billion euros ($3.40 billion) at the end of 2028, up 64% from 1.92 billion euros in 2024.

Milan-listed shares in the company reversed early gains to trade down 0.6% at 1055 GMT.

The company said its performance would be driven by both organic growth and M&A.

"The trends behind our business are clear and numerous, from the increased demand for energy and electrification to global digitalization, there has never been a better moment to achieve organic growth," Battaini said.

Prysmian, which manufactures a variety of cables, including for energy transmission and power grids, said it expected to use around 2.6 billion euros of the cash generated by 2028 primarily to fund more acquisitions, as well as to lift shareholder returns, mainly from 2027, depending on the M&A opportunities.

It aims to increase dividends by around 12% year on year over 2025-2028, for a total of 1.1 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9264 euros)

(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru and Giulio Piovaccari in Milan. Editing by Rashmi Aich and Mark Potter)

((giulio.piovaccari@thomsonreuters.com))