Baker McKenzie advised Creos Deutschland Holding GmbH on the acquisition of all shares in STEAG Netz GmbH. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

STEAG Netz GmbH is a regulated electricity grid operator, which must, in particular, comply with the requirements of the incentive regulation for network tariff formation, the energy management unbundling regulations as well as override regulation. The origin of this electricity network lies in the electrification of Saar mining at the beginning of the 20th century. At the time Saarland developed its own high and medium voltage network in addition to the first power stations.

Baker McKenzie advised comprehensively in the bidding process of the acquisition. In addition to the acquisition and the related due diligence, the advice encompassed the complex regulatory environment, network tariffs, regulation of the grid operation, approval under mining law, and the carve-out of the STEAG Group.

"Due to the complexity of the target structure, this was a very demanding transaction, which involved the acquisition of important infrastructure in Germany. With our transaction experience and our industry specialization in the field of energy and infrastructure, we were able to help our client finalise a successful transaction in the course of this auction process", commented Dr. Tim Heitling, partner of Baker McKenzie, who co-led the team with Dr. Thomas Dörmer.

    With this transaction, we were yet again able to support the Encevo Group in a strategically important transaction and successfully completed the bidding process,

commented Dr. Thomas Dörmer, partner at Baker McKenzie.

STEAG Netz GmbH operates its own high and medium voltage network, which is used by industrial, commercial and household customers, power plant operators and regional redistributors.
Creos Deutschland Holding GmbH is part of the Luxembourg-based energy supplier Encevo. The Encevo Group consists of the holding company Encevo S.A., the energy supplier Enovos and the grid operator Creos. The Group currently employs more than 1,500 people, has over 300,000 supply points (electricity and gas) and operates more than 9,700 km of power lines and over 3,700 km of gas pipelines.

The Energy & Infrastructure team of Baker McKenzie regularly advises on national and international transactions, financing and joint ventures. Most recently, it advised the bank consortium on the financing of energy provider Ista, Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. to acquire interests in German offshore network operators, the Bavarian State Bank and the Arab African International Bank as the lender of the USD 126 million project financing for Infinity 50 Renewable Energy S.A.E., ALBA Group, one of the world's leading recycling specialists and suppliers of raw materials, as a Chinese investor joined into two segments of the ALBA Group, RWE and E.ON, on the sale of their holdings in Enovos, the Luxembourg-based energy company.

Lead advisor to Creos Deutschland Holding GmbH:

Lead:

Dr. Tim Heitling (M&A/Energy, Berlin, partner)
Dr. Thomas Dörmer (M&A/Energy, Berlin, partner)

Team:

M&A / Energy: Dr. Daniel Neudecker (M&A / Energy, Berlin, senior associate)
Mining Law: Dr. Frank-Rainer Töpfer (partner, Berlin)
Telecommunications: Prof Dr. Joachim Scherer (partner, Frankfurt), Caroline Heinickel (counsel, Frankfurt)
Employment / Pensions: Dr. Christian Reichel (partner, Frankfurt), Dr. Anna Verena Böhm (counsel, Frankfurt), Dr. Matthias Köhler (senior associate, Berlin)
IT: Dr. Holger Lutz (partner, Frankfurt), Dr. Tobias Born (associate, Frankfurt)
Antitrust: Dr. Christian Burholt (partner, Berlin),
Real estate: Dr. Florian Thamm (partner, Frankfurt), Dr. Niklas Wielandt (senior associate, Frankfurt)
Insurance: Dr. Peter Stankewitsch (partner, Frankfurt), Vedrana Ponseck (associate, Düsseldorf)