Multidisciplinary London team advises RWE on its acquisition of JBM Solar

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised RWE, the UK’s largest power generator and a leading renewables generator, on its acquisition of JBM Solar, one of the UK’s largest independent solar and co-located battery developers.

Through the acquisition, RWE will take over a mature pipeline of solar and battery storage development projects, predominantly located in the central and southern regions of England. A large proportion of the projects already have grid connections and land secured.

It is anticipated that the first projects may be operational as early as the end of 2024.

RWE is a leading global player in renewables and expects to invest more than €50bn by 2030 to grow its green core business internationally, with around £15bn earmarked for the UK.

Stephen Rigby, the London-based corporate partner who led the Norton Rose Fulbright team, commented: “This was an exciting and significant project, which will strengthen RWE’s renewables business in the UK. We were delighted to help RWE continue to grow and diversify its portfolio through the addition of these solar and battery development projects.”

Norton Rose Fulbright’s multidisciplinary team advised on the corporate, real estate, tax, planning, environmental, employment, pensions and projects aspects of the acquisition. Led by partner Stephen Rigby and senior associate Alex Wills (both corporate), the team also included partner Wasim Khan, senior associate Helen Finnis and associates Rowenna Butler, Kris Champaneri and Peter Lewis and trainee Issy Perry (real estate), partners Matt Hodkin and Julia Lloyd, senior associate Julia Gallinger, associate Will Scott and trainee Giulia Schwartz (tax), senior associate Peter Cole and associate Alysha Patel (planning), counsel Lucy Bruce Jones and associate Giulia Barbone (environmental), partner Matt Findley, counsel Nick Howard, senior associate Aida Geragusian and associates Joanna MacKenzie and Ed Spilman (employment and tax), partner Lesley Browning, counsel Graeme Tricker and associate Ian Dick (pensions) and partner Rob Marsh, senior associate Melusi Dlamini, associate Charlie Winch and trainee Emily Allison (projects) and partner Matt Foster, associates Michael Stevens and Alex Stewart-Moreno and trainees Emily Bailey and Zainab Hamid (corporate).