Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co's Energy team has helped Primrose Solar to significantly expand its portfolio through the acquisition of a further five solar farms in the UK.
Primrose's portfolio will now add more than 175 MW of renewable energy to the grid, enough to power the equivalent of more than 40,000 average homes and to save approximately 1,600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over their 25-year lifetime.
Primrose has acquired a site in Hampshire which, at a capacity of up to 48MW, is expected to be the largest single ground-mounted solar development in the UK. Solarcentury has been engaged to undertake the construction, management and operation of the site.
The Energy team worked simultaneously with Primrose on the purchase of three new solar farms from German EPC contractor ib vogt and St Nicholas Court Farms. The developments, located in Canterbury, Bexhill-on-sea and Herne Bay, will be connected to the grid soon and will have a capacity of more than 46 MW of renewable energy. ib vogt will complete the construction of the sites and also undertake management and operations.
The Energy team had previously advised Primrose on the acquisition of a large site in Canworthy Water, Cornwall from Spanish renewable energy company Solaer. This series of acquisitions follows the purchase of four solar farms last November.
Corporate energy director Gareth Baker led a cross-firm team of specialists on these deals.
He said: "Primrose has been very active in the last 12 months and we're thrilled to be assisting them to grow and develop their portfolio in a market that continues to be busy on the approach to the closure of ROC eligibility window in March 2015.
"The depth of resource and expertise at our firm, backed up by specialist knowledge of the solar energy market, puts us in a strong position to advise clients on multiple transactions."
Gareth worked closely on the acquisitions with corporate associates Victoria Hirst and Neil Hendron. Paul Green (partner), Maxine Symington (director) and Victoria Smith (solicitor) advised on construction matters, while Graham Wrigglesworth (director) and Sophie Taylor (solicitor) assisted with planning issues.
Real estate experts Joe Morris (director), Alex Curtis (associate), Caroline Frost (solicitor) and Lee McBride (partner) advised on the critical real estate aspects, Erika Pircher-Esching (associate) provide finance support, while Paul Harrington (associate) and Khurram Khayani (solicitor) advised on tax matters.
Primrose Solar CEO Giles Clark said: "The team at Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co supported us on all aspects of these deals, from acquisition right through to construction and financing.
"Their knowledge of the solar sector, combined with their legal expertise, makes them an ideal and trusted adviser. We've worked with them on numerous transactions to date and would have no hesitation instructing them in the future."
The 70-strong Energy team, named 'firm of the year' in the regional 'Projects, energy and natural resources' category in Legal 500 2013 has industry-leading reputation in UK and international energy transactions, structured financing, regulation, transactional energy work and energy trading.
