The financing of the Merkur offshore wind farm that is to be constructed in the German North Sea, 45 km north of Borkum, is now secured. Allen & Overy LLP advised DEME on this transaction.
The capital in the amount of approx. EUR 1.6 billion required for the construction of the wind farm was raised by equity sponsors and a banking syndicate on a non-recourse basis. The equity portion of approx. EUR 500 million was provided by a group of five sponsors: Partners Group (50%), InfraRed Capital Partners (25%), DEME Concessions Wind (12.5%), GE Energy Financial Services (6.25%) and L’Agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l’énergie (6.25%). The bank financing in an amount of approx. EUR 1.2 billion was secured in a record-breaking four months by a syndicate of leading international and local banks.
Construction work is to commence already in the course of this year and will be performed by Geosea, a member of DEME Group. With a total capacity of 400 MW, the wind farm will be one of the largest in Germany.
DEME Group has established a leading position in the world market for highly specialised and complex hydraulic disciplines such as dredging, hydraulic engineering and related environmental technologies and was previously involved in the construction of several major European offshore wind farms, such as Alpha Ventus, EnBW Baltic 2 and Trianel West Borkum II. The Group employs 4,600 people worldwide and generated sales of around EUR 2.58 billion in 2014.
The Allen & Overy team comprised partner Dr. Nicolaus Ascherfeld and senior associate Max Landshut (both joint lead), counsel Marie-Luise von Buchwaldt, senior associate Daniel Martin Schulz and associates Dr. Sebastian Remberg and Dr. Stefan Witte (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg).
The team was complemented by partners Dr. Franz Bernhard Herding and Dr. Norbert Wiederholt, senior associates Dr. Tobias Wintermantel and Dr. Jan-Hendrik Bode and associate Lorenz Riehl (all Banking and Finance, Frankfurt), partner Dr. Sven Prüfer, associate Dr. Martin Thürling (both Corporate, Frankfurt), senior associate Dr. René Galle and associate Yves Holle (both Antitrust, Hamburg), senior associate Dr. Cornelia Drenckhahn (Employment and Benefits, Hamburg), partner Dr. Jens Matthes, associates Jennifer Sauder (both IP, Düsseldorf) and Angelique Pfeiffelmann (Litigation, Frankfurt), partner Dr. Heike Weber and senior associate Dr. Dominic Paschke (Tax, Frankfurt).
Luxembourg law advice was provided by partners Fabian Beullekens (Corporate) and Pierre Schleimer (International Capital Markets), and Belgian law advice by associate Pieter-Jan Leemen (Banking and Finance). Partners Zeeger de Jongh (Banking and Finance) and Joyce Leemrijse (Corporate) advised on all Dutch law issues.
