Watson, Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised KGAL GmbH & Co. KG (”KGAL“) on the acquisition of five wind farm portfolios in Germany and France with a total capacity of approximately 135 MW. WFW advised on all relevant legal and tax aspects relating to German and French law.
In Germany, KGAL acquired two onshore wind farms in Schleswig-Holstein, North Germany, from Husum-based developer WKN AG. The Kastorf wind farm in the district of Lauenburg comprises five wind energy plants (Vestas V112), each with an installed capacity of 3 MW. Furthermore, KGAL acquired three of six wind energy plants (Vestas V112) with a combined capacity of 9,225 MW in the Kropp wind farm.
The commissioning of both wind farms is planned for the middle of 2014 with the preparatory construction already underway. The general contractor for both projects is WKN AG while the construction financing was provided by Norddeutsche Landesbank.
WFW also advised KGAL on the acquisition of the “Lettweiler Hohe”-wind farm from juwi AG. This wind farm, upon completion, will consist of 14 wind energy plants (of the type GE 2.5-120) with a total capacity of 35.4 MW.
In France, WFW supported KGAL on the expansion of their wind farm portfolio, advising on the acquisition of two Seine Rive Gauche Nord (SRN) wind farm projects in the Champagne-Ardenne Region, Northern France, from H2air and Nordex. Currently under construction, the two wind farms will benefit from the government guaranteed feed-in tariff for wind energy. H2air is planning to develop 18 wind energy plants (Nordex N-100 type) while Nordex plans 12 wind energy plants of the same type.
The construction permission for both projects, with a total combined capacity of 75 MW, has already been granted. The commissioning is planned for the third quarter of 2014.
For the past 45 years, KGAL has initiated and advised on long-term capital investments with lasting and stable returns. Their capabilities include the development and management of selected funds as well as investment solutions for family offices and foundations.
Munich-based partner Dr. Dirk Janssen comments: “We are delighted to have again advised our longstanding client KGAL on a number of national and international transactions. The close relationship and trusted cooperation between the KGAL and WFW transaction-teams was the basis for this success and added tremendous value to the deals, particularly given the critical timeframe and complex project structures.”
WFW’s international team was led and coordinated by Munich-based partners Dr. Dirk Janssen (Corporate), Daniel Marhewka (Corporate / Energy) and Dr. Ahmad Khonsari (Corporate). They were supported by partners Michael-Alexander Rojnic (Real Estate, Hamburg), Verena Scheibe (Tax, Hamburg) and Sven Fretthold (Project & Structured Finance, Hamburg) as well as associates Dr. Christine Bader (Regulatory, Hamburg), Dr. Petra Welge (Corporate, Hamburg), Dr. Zuzana Meinecke Fabry (Corporate / Energy, Munich), Barbara Zehnder (Corporate / Real Estate, Munich), Alexander Schroer (Real Estate, Hamburg) and Silvia Ribeiro Da Cunha Heimberg (Real Estate, Hamburg).
WFW’s French team in Paris was led by partner Vincent Trevisani (Corporate). He was supported by partner Romain Girtanner (Tax) as well as associates Clémence Halpern, Felicien Bardsley, Ines Garcia de las Bayonas and Livia Rabuel (all Corporate), Laurent Battoue, Julien Barba (both Regulatory), Florent Segalen (Real Estate), Thomas Lugez, Marie-Laure Brun (both Finance) and Margot Wilhelm (Tax).
The German team was further supported on the Lettweiler Hohe transaction by partner Dr. Ivana MikesicRegulatory, Frankfurt) as well as associates Cathrin Browne, Carolin Woggon (both Corporate, Hamburg), Pascal Unger (Project & Structured Finance, Hamburg), Anastasiya Korolchenko and Leo Koltsoff (both Regulatory, Frankfurt).
