London office advises Citi on structuring first-of-its-kind B2B payment solution for renewables marketplace

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised global financial services firm Citi on structuring, in collaboration with Hokodo, a new B2B payment solution for renewable energy e-commerce marketplace Covento, which has been created by Vestas. 

Covento serves the needs of renewable energy field engineers, technicians, site managers and procurement professionals, and - working with Covento, Citi and Hokodo - is supporting processes needed for a low carbon economy.

Covento provides a central online solution to connect buyers and sellers of spare parts across various renewable energy technologies, delivering transparency for prices, product availability and delivery tracking. Covento’s search algorithm empowers and enables a buyer to search for a part with whatever information they have available (any ID or even just generic searching) and be able to find the part with all relevant offers from all Covento suppliers. 

The new payment solution created by Citi in collaboration with Hokodo includes:

• API integrated customer registration, with instant credit scoring and limits setting
• Automated assessment and processing to allow trade credit in under 24 hours
• Flexible deferred payment options through Hokodo’s B2B Buy Now, Pay Later 
• Collections and credit management 

This unified marketplace was made possible through combining the strength of Vestas’ global network, Citi’s expertise and capabilities, Hokodo’s digital trade credit platform and Norton Rose Fulbright’s legal expertise.

The Norton Rose Fulbright banking and finance team advising Citi on the structuring and development of this offering was led by Counsel Tudor Plapcianu, alongside the firm’s Head of Trade Finance, Nick Grandage.

Mads Mortensen, Covento's General Counsel, commented on the collaboration, saying: 

"This new payment solution truly epitomizes our commitment to propelling the renewable energy sector forward. By combining Citi's financial expertise, Hokodo's digital trade credit platform, and Norton Rose Fulbright's legal acumen, we are paving the way for a more sustainable future.”

Nick Grandage added:

“We are proud to have been able to play a part in this process through our work with Citi to develop this innovative and tailored new payments approach, which we believe will revolutionise the wind turbine spare parts market and make a real difference to companies operating in the renewable energy industry.”

Norton Rose Fulbright’s structured trade and commodity finance practice is ranked Tier 1 by both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500. The firm’s lawyers cover the full range of commodities work for clients including financial institutions, alternative financiers, commodity producers, traders, corporations, export credit agencies and other multilateral institutions. They have significant experience advising on structured transactions and devising legal and practical solutions across a variety of products, both in established and emerging markets.