Schoenherr advises Allianz Capital Partners on its first acquisition of wind parks in Austria

Schoenherr advised Allianz Capital Partners (ACP) on its acquisition of four wind parks in the Austrian state of Lower Austria from ImWind, one of the country’s largest wind farm operators, with a portfolio of 320 MW in operation.

2015-07-17 11:46:10

ACP has entered into an agreement to acquire the four wind park projects Scharndorf III, Zistersdorf Ost, Ladendorf, and Grosskrut-Hauskirchen-Wilfersdorf, all of which are located within a 70 km radius of Vienna. The 21 turbines installed at these wind parks have a total generating capacity of 65 MW. By acquiring the four wind parks, ACP has entered the Austrian wind market and exceeded EUR 2.5 billion in renewable energy investments.

The closing of ACP′s acquisition of the wind parks Zistersdorf Ost and Scharndorf III was completed on 30 June 2015. The other two projects are currently under construction; the closing of these acquisitions is expected in 2016.

Schoenherr′s advisory work included structuring the transaction, legal due diligence on the four projects and the preparation and negotiation of the transaction documentation (including financing). After advising Raiffeisen Leasing in 2014/15 on its sale of its renewable portfolio (wind parks in Austria and Bulgaria and photovoltaic parks in Czech Republic and Slovakia; total capacity: 130 MW) to various buyers, and ContourGlobal in 2014 on its acquisition of Renergie (holding several wind parks and PV parks in Austria and Slovakia), the ACP/ImWind transaction marks the third major wind park portfolio deal in the Austrian market on which Schoenherr′s energy team has recently advised.

"We are happy that we could assist Allianz Capital Partners on its first acquisition of wind parks in Austria. This transaction is another milestone for our energy team in Vienna and confirms our strong market position in energy M&A", said Alexander Popp, a partner in Schoenherr′s Corporate/M&A practice and the head of the team advising ACP.

The Schoenherr M&A team also consisted of Clemens Rainer (attorney at law, Corporate/M&A), Georg Schuh (attorney at law, Corporate/M&A) and Manuel Ritt-Huemer (associate, Corporate/M&A). Constantin Benes (attorney at law, Real Estate) and Franziska Oczlon (associate, Real Estate) assisted on real estate aspects of the transaction, while Christian Schmelz (partner, Regulatory), Günther Grassl (attorney at law, Regulatory) and Dieter Wohlmuth (associate, Regulatory) advised on its regulatory elements. ImWind was represented by wind park and real estate expert Robert Wagner.

Allianz Capital Partners is the Allianz Group′s in-house investment manager for alternative investments. With offices in Munich, London, New York and Singapore Allianz Capital Partners manages around EUR 12 billion of alternative assets. The investment focus is on direct investments in infrastructure and renewable energy as well as private equity fund investments.

ImWind develops, builds and operates wind farms for its own portfolio, but also for project partners and investors. ImWind was founded in 1994 by Johannes Trauttmansdorff and has been successfully active in Austria´s renewable energy market for more than two decades. Even following this newest transaction, ImWind will remain one of Austria´s largest wind farm operators, with more than 320 MW of wind energy in operation or ready to be built.