Adds details, quotes from CEO presentation in paragraphs 7-8, updates stock performance

By Giulio Piovaccari

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 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 on Tuesday, on the eve of presenting its business plan to 2028, said it had agreed to buy U.S. connectivity device manufacturer Channell for up to $1.15 billion.

Channell makes plastic and metal enclosures, copper wire connectors, fibre-optic cable management systems and thermal management products at three U.S. plants, complementing Prysmian's digital solution cables.

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.

He said data centres were expected to cover 14% of U.S. power demand in 2030 from 6% now.

Battaini also said the focus on the Channell deal, as well as recent financial market volatility, had led Prysmian to pause a decision on a potential secondary listing in New York, though he added the company still saw value in that opportunity.

Prysmian's Milan-listed shares extended losses after the listing update and at 1455 GMT were down 5.4%.

The Channell deal follows last year's $4.2 billion purchase of U.S. cable maker firm Encore Wire, which expanded Prysmian'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 four years to help the U.S. stay ahead of China and other rivals in the AI race.

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

Prysmian 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 2024. The target incorporates Channell.

The Italian company, which on Wednesday also announced a $245 million investment in the U.S. to expand output of medium-voltage cables, 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," Battaini said.

Prysmian said it expected to use around 2.6 billion euros of cash 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 pay a total of 1.1 billion euros in dividends over 2025-2028.

($1 = 0.9264 euros)

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

((giulio.piovaccari@thomsonreuters.com))