Energy team advises Greencoat on Humber Gateway offshore wind farm investment

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Greencoat UK Wind plc on its acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm from RWE.

The acquisition was made in partnership with a number of pension funds investing through a fund also managed by Greencoat Capital, and is worth approximately £648m. RWE will continue to hold the remaining 51 per cent.

Humber Gateway is located five miles off the Yorkshire coast and is serviced from Grimsby in Lincolnshire. The 219MW wind farm was commissioned in June 2015 and comprises 73 Vestas 3MW turbines. RWE will continue to provide operation and maintenance and management services to the wind farm. A route-to-market power purchase agreement is in place.

UKW will acquire a net 38 per cent stake in the wind farm for a consideration of £500m (including cash and working capital), while the pension funds will acquire a net 11 per cent for £148m.

Greencoat was advised by a London-based Norton Rose Fulbright team, led by corporate partner Stephen Rigby. Counsel Sarah Tonks, senior associate Alex Wills, and associates Edward Coleman and Charlie Warren also provided corporate law advice. Partners Andrew Hedges, Rob Marsh, plus associates Melusi Dlamini, Andrey Spasov and Charles Winch advised on the energy aspects of the deal. Partner Matthew Hodkin and associate Daniel Alexander provided tax advice, while partner Dan Wagerfield advised on real estate aspects of the deal.

Stephen Rigby commented:

“We recently advised Greencoat UK Wind plc on its £350m acquisition of an interest in the Walney I and II UK offshore wind farms from SSE in September, and we are delighted to have followed that by advising Greencoat on the £648m acquisition of a stake in Humber Gateway from RWE. UK offshore wind has continued to attract significant investment during 2020, and our M&A and project finance teams have completed a number of large offshore wind acquisition and project finance deals for a wide range of clients.”