Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Stadtwerke München GmbH (“SWM”) on them having agreed to form a strategic partnership with Skyborn Renewables (“Skyborn”), pursuant to which they will acquire a 25% stake in the Gennaker offshore wind farm, currently under construction. Once the farm is operational, SWM will provide green electricity for hundreds of thousands more households.
The completion of the transaction is currently subject to the usual regulatory approvals and committee consents, as well as the successful finalisation of construction financing, and is expected in the third quarter of 2026.
The offshore project is located 15 kilometres north of the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula and, with a planned capacity of up to 976.5 MW, is set to become one of the largest wind farms in the German Baltic Sea. The project, which Skyborn has been pursuing since 2011, represents a significant investment in Germany’s renewable energy infrastructure and will play a key role in strengthening energy security and decarbonisation.
Based in Munich, SWM is one of Germany’s largest energy and infrastructure companies, and a municipal subsidiary of the City of Munich.
Skyborn is a developer and operator of offshore wind farms based in Hamburg, providing services across the full offshore wind value chain.
The multidisciplinary WFW Germany Energy team that advised SWM was led by Munich Corporate Partner Dr Christian Bauer and Hamburg Corporate Partner Dr Malte Jordan, working closely with Managing Associate Muteber Yalcin and Senior Associate Felix Wörner. They were supported by Associates Philipp Vogl and André Looks. Hamburg Partners Sven Fretthold and Thomas Hollenhorst provided finance expertise. Regulatory advice was provided by Partner Dr Christine Bader, Senior Associate Wiebke Westermann as well as Associate Leonard Wolckenhaar, whilst Hamburg Counsel Tatjana Giutronich and Associate Tetiana Arkhipova provided real estate expertise. Associate Dr. Laura Böse advised on the litigation aspects of the transaction.
Christian commented: “We are delighted to have advised SWM on this strategically important transaction. The Gennaker project will make a significant contribution to the expansion of renewable energy generation in Germany and highlights the growing role of municipal utilities in large-scale offshore wind investment”.
Malte added: “This transaction combines M&A expertise with specific energy sector know-how. WFW has extensive experience in structuring complex stakeholdings in large-scale energy projects”.
