Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised ERG S.p.A. (“ERG”) on the acquisition of a pipeline of wind power projects in Germany with a total installed capacity of 224 MW from Hannover-based Windwärts GmbH. The purchase was finalised through its subsidiary ERG Power Generation S.p.A. (“ERG Power Generation”).
Founded in Genoa in 1938, ERG is one of the leading energy groups in Italy, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange and active in the production and marketing of electricity from four main sources: wind, solar, hydro and natural gas. In the wind business ERG has almost 1,900 MW fully operating with assets located in Italy (1,095 MW), France (360 MW), Germany (238 MW), Bulgaria and Romania (54 MW and 70 MW respectively) and Poland (82 MW).
With a total capacity of around 224 MW, the pipeline includes 13 projects in various stages of development and is located in the windy northern regions of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, where production rates of circa 3,000 equivalent hours can be achieved.
The acquisition was based on an agreed fixed price accompanied by earn out and bonus payments subject to the successful development and operation of the pipeline projects. This is ERG’s first development staged portfolio acquisition to have closed successfully following the decision to concentrate their German operations through an affiliate office in Hamburg.
The WFW Hamburg team advising ERG was led by Corporate Partner Stefan Hoffmann. He was supported by Corporate Partner Dr Ahmad Khonsari, Property Partner Dr Eckrolf Berg and Regulatory Partners Dr Christine Bader and Dr Jule Martin. Corporate Associates Matthias von Kossak and Christian Schindler and Transaction Lawyer Cathrin Gelhaus also assisted. ERG’s in-house team was led by Moreno Bisio.
Stefan commented: “We are very pleased to have advised ERG on its first ever large scale portfolio acquisition, which underlines the strategic importance of the German renewables market. Based on our long standing expertise in the onshore wind sector, we were able to provide ERG with tailor-made solutions to ensure this challenging and important transaction was completed on schedule”.