Eversheds advised CGN EE on the acquisition of a portfolio of 14 onshore wind-farms with an enterprise value in excess of €500m

The transaction completed on 30th December in respect of the wind farms, which operate at approximately 228 MW in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.

Eversheds acted for the buyer, CGN Europe Energy (CGN EE), a subsidiary of CGN Group (the Chinese state owned nuclear generator). The sellers were Gaelectric Holdings plc and Lanber Holdings.

The deal was signed in a high profile ceremony attended by the Irish Energy minister, the Chinese ambassador to Ireland, senior officials from CGN and a number of local dignitaries.

The Eversheds team was led out of London by corporate and energy partner, Jason Lovell. He worked with the team in Dublin which was led by partners, Kevin Collins and Mark Varian. Andy Lord provided support as corporate lead associate. Tughans solicitors advised on the Northern Ireland aspects.

Jason Lovell comments: “We are thrilled to get this deal completed for CGN Europe Energy. The transaction was complicated by a number of factors including a leveraged structure with a number of project financings remaining in place. Not all projects are yet fully operational and completion was conditional on obtaining a number of third party consents which were achieved in a relatively short time frame so it is great to see it complete. We look forward to working on the next strategic stages with CGN EE.”

Li You at CGN EE adds: “This completion marks the breakthrough into Ireland’s wind energy market for CGN EE and the second successful renewables acquisition where Eversheds has acted for CGN EE. We look forward to continuing to work with Eversheds to establish a broader cooperation between CGN EE and Gaelectric.”