Watson, Farley & Williams (“WFW”), a leading international law firm, is pleased to announce that it advised Finanziaria Internazionale Investments SGR S.p.A. (“Finanziaria Internazionale”) on the acquisition of a photovoltaic (PV) power park comprising 10 plants with an aggregate capacity of 10 MWp. The park, located in the Municipality of Serre (Province of Salerno, Campania Region), is built on public land belonging to the Ministry of Defence.

The transaction involved the assignment of the land use concession granted by Difesa e Servizi S.p.A. to the real estate fund Perseide Energie, which also acquired the PV park from the special purpose vehicles owned by Savex S.r.l., Enerqos S.p.A. and Capital Riesgo Global S.C.R. (“CRG”), a company belonging to the Santander Group. Difesa e Servizi S.p.A. is the company that manages the real estate properties of the Ministry of Defence, while Perseide Energie, which is wholly subscribed by Cattolica Assicurazioni Group, is a real estate fund managed by the acquirer, Finanziaria Internazionale.  

CBA Studio Legale e Tributario (“CBA”) advised Finanziaria Internazionale on the tax aspects of the transaction. CBA was formed following the merger between Italian firms Camozzi Bonissoni Varrenti & Associati and Studio Associato LCA – Avvocati e Commercialisti d’Impresa. The CBA team was led by partner Francesco Assegnati, who was assisted by associates Tiziano Mariani and Andrea Motta.

CRG/Santander was assisted by Norton Rose Fulbright.

The WFW team in Milan was led by Project & Structured Finance partner Cristina Martorana who, together with associate Micaela Tinti, advised on the administrative matters. Senior associate Carlo Cosmelli and associate Ginevra Biadico assisted on the corporate and commercial aspects, supported by Raffaele Villa, Head of Tax.

WFW Milan partner Cristina Martorana said: “Despite the recent approval of Art. 26 of Law Decree 91/2014 – the so-called ‘spalma incentivi’ – and its conversion into law, deals are nevertheless being successfully brought to a close in the PV sector thanks to quality of the respective projects as well as the technical and negotiating skills of the professionals involved.”