Clifford Chance advised Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in respect of the acquisition and debt financing of a 50 percent stake in the Gode Wind 1 offshore wind farm project in Germany.

The vendor was Danish integrated energy company DONG Energy A/S. The transaction is subject to approval by the competition authorities and is expected to be completed in around September 2015.

Gode Wind 1 is a 330MW offshore wind project in the German North Sea currently being constructed by DONG Energy, a leading developer and operator of offshore wind farms globally. The parties have agreed that DONG Energy will provide operation and maintenance services to Gode Wind 1 and a route to market for the power production from Gode Wind 1.

As a part of the transaction, GIP will issue a rated bond to a consortium of leading German institutional investors, with Talanx, one of the largest German insurance groups, being as the cornerstone lender. This transaction marks the issuance of the first non-recourse, investment grade, certified green bond dedicated to partially finance an offshore wind farm asset in construction.

GIP is a leading global, independent private equity infrastructure investment fund. It invests in the energy, transport and water/waste sectors and currently manages approximately $16.1 billion for its investors.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partners Dr. Florian Mahler (Banking & Capital Markets, Düsseldorf) and Dr. Björn Heinlein (Corporate/Energy, Düsseldorf) and comprised senior associates Dr. Werner Brickwedde (Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Dr. Martin Weitenberg (Corporate/Energy, Düsseldorf), Dr. Axel Schlieter (Banking & Capital Markets, Düsseldorf) and Dr. Lars Laeger (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), partner Dr. Mathias Elspaß and associate Mira Heinrich (both Corporate /Infrastructure/Permitting, Düsseldorf), partner Dr. Gregor Evenkamp and counsel Dr. Felix Biedermann (both Banking & Capital Markets, Frankfurt), partner Thorsten Sauerhering, counsel Olaf Mertgen and senior associate Dr. Alexander Täumer (all Tax, Frankfurt), partner Marc Besen and senior associate Dr. Dimitri Slobodenjuk (both Antitrust) as well as partners Dr. André Schwanna (Corporate) and Dr. Michael J. R. Kremer (Litigation) – all Düsseldorf.

The London office was involved with partner Brendan Moylan (Private Equity).

Clifford Chance advised since the beginning of this year on the financing of the offshore wind farm 'Nordsee One' and on the financing of the offshore wind park 'EnBW Baltic II" as well as on the financing and acquisition of numerous other offshore projects in the past.