Norton Rose Fulbright advises PGE Energia Odnawialna S.A. on 36 MW wind farm acquisition

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright advised PGE Energia Odnawialna S.A. on its recent acquisition of 36 MW onshore Skoczykłody wind farm in Poland, operated by Eco-Power Sp. z o.o.

The Skoczykłody wind farm was sold by Wento holding, which is controlled by Enterprise Investors (a PE fund).

Built in 2015 and located in Łódź voivodship in Poland, the Skoczykłody wind farm consists of 12 3 MW turbines and has the annual production of nearly 100 GWh. The wind farm benefits from a green certificates-based support scheme designated for renewable energy projects, which have been operational before June 30, 2016.

The Norton Rose Fulbright Warsaw team provided comprehensive legal services to PGE Energia Odnawialna S.A., which included wind farm legal due diligence, the negotiation of the share purchase documentation and arrangements with the bank currently financing the Skoczykłody wind farm.

Piotr Strawa, the Warsaw M&A partner who supervised the transaction, commented:

“We are delighted to be a part of PGE Energia Odnawialna’s impressive growth as the largest green energy producer in Poland. The Skoczykłody wind farm acquisition is just one of the growing number of the Polish renewable energy transactions on which we have advised in recent months.”

Tomasz Rogalski, counsel and head of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Warsaw energy practice, added:

“We continue to see increasing confidence among local and cross-border investors in the Polish energy regulatory environment. They are looking to acquire ready-to-build assets which benefit from contracts for difference awarded in recent RES auctions and operating ones based on the green-certificates support scheme.This investor’s appetite for good assets pairs nicely with our team’s focus on clean energy investments in Poland.”

In addition to Piotr Strawa and Tomasz Rogalski, the Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by counsels Artur Jończyk (M&A), Jan Wszołek (real estate and construction) and Agnieszka Braciszewska (M&A and insurance). They were assisted by associates Magdalena Olechniewicz-Blocher (real estate and construction), Maciej Dubiel (M&A), Igor Kondratowicz (banking) and Karolina Lepakiewicz (energy).

TPA Poland was the tax and financial adviser to PGE Energia Odnawialna S.A. Bird & Bird Poland was the legal counsel to Wento.