Ashurst advised the Foresight Group (Foresight), a leading infrastructure and private equity investment manager, on the acquisition of all shares in a portfolio of five operational anaerobic digestion (AD) plants from the Lindhorst Gruppe (Lindhorst), a German family-owned group of companies. With the acquisition, Foresight strengthens its renewable energy portfolio to 20 AD plants in the UK and Germany, generating 154 MW of clean renewable energy.

Ashurst's advice included the legal due diligence of the target including all aspects of renewables subsidies and potential participation in future auctions for tariffs under the new German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2017) as well as the M&A side and certain complex restructuring measures post-closing. In addition, the advice covered a number of specific commercial contracts.

Ashurst partner Dr. Maximilian Uibeleisen commented:

"We are delighted to have supported Foresight on its expansion into the European and German AD sector. This matter represents a further success for our German renewables practice and is another example of our practice covering the full spectrum of renewable energy sources, in particular offshore wind, onshore wind, biomass and solar."

The Ashurst team comprised partners Dr. Maximilian Uibeleisen (lead; energy and environmental), Dr. Benedikt von Schorlemer (corporate/M&A), Dr. Martin Bünning (tax) and Dr. Andreas Mauroschat (employment), assisted by counsel Holger Mlynek (commercial), associate Dr. Simon Groneberg (energy and environmental), associates Jan Ischreyt and Jan van Kisfeld (corporate/M&A), associate Carina Park (tax), counsel Juditha von der Heydt (employment) and associate Felix Bergfort (real estate, all Frankfurt).

Ashurst teams led by Dr. Maximilian Uibeleisen, head of Ashurst's German renewables practice, and Dr. Benedikt von Schorlemer regularly advise on transactions in the energy sector, in particular in the field of renewable energies, but also in the conventional power market.