Veja Mate
Project financing completed – Veja Mate offshore wind farm to start construction
Veja Mate / Key word(s): Mergers & Acquisitions/Financing Hamburg, 30 June 2015 -Highland Group Holdings Ltd. [HGHL], Siemens Financial Services and Copenhagen Infrastructure II, a fund managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners are pleased to announce that they arranged the successful financing of the 400 MW Veja Mate offshore wind farm project, for a total project investment of EUR 1.9 billion. The Veja Mate offshore wind farm will operate 95 km North West from the island of Borkum and will be connected to the power grid via the existing Borwin 2 offshore sub-station managed by TenneT, the grid operator. With a production of roughly 1.6 TWh per year, the offshore wind farm will be amongst the largest in the world, meeting the annual electricity needs of approximately one million people. The project, which was acquired in September 2014 by investment firm Highland Group Holdings Ltd, is now owned by a consortium including Highland, Copenhagen Infrastructure II, a fund managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and Siemens Financial Services. The three parties will contribute the total equity requirements of the project, in the form of share capital and mezzanine loans. A “non-recourse” financing in an amount of EUR 1,275 million, the largest of its kind in Germany to date, was signed with a consortium of 8 financial institutions, including the KfW programme for offshore wind, Danish export credit agency Eksport Kredit Funden and 6 mandated lead arrangers: Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank, Natixis, Santander and SMBC. The debt amount represents 67% of the investment budget and has a maturity of 12 years post-construction of the wind farm, matching the duration of the elevated tariff the project is entitled to under the existing German law for renewable energy. “We are very pleased to see Veja Mate reach financial close less than a year after its acquisition. This underlines the quality of the work done by the project team and the strength of the German regulatory framework for offshore wind. We are very pleased to have been joined by two highly experienced parties in the sector and look forward to working with them to ensure the project is built to highest standards,” said Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay, owner of Highland Group Holdings Ltd. Wolfgang Bischoff, Head of EMEA Energy Finance at Siemens Financial Services commented: “The offshore wind sector has matured considerably in recent years and the close of Veja Mate is yet another significant step forward in its development, highlighting the bankability of well-structured projects at the construction stage. In this case, the speed at which we achieved financial close demonstrates the strong market confidence in Siemens’ technical and financial experience in this sector.” “Veja Mate is a fully developed and procured offshore wind project, with a grid connection on the BorWin2 platform, which from 2017 will deliver stable returns for many years. We are very satisfied with this investment which benefits from the strong German regulatory framework, and look forward to contributing our competence and experience in cooperation with our partners”, says Christina G. Sørensen, Senior Partner in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partner. The project has engaged with experienced suppliers: Siemens (turbine supply and installation), FICG (a consortium consisting of Cofely Fabricom, CG Holdings and Iemants) (offshore substation supply and installation), OWF a consortium consisting of Boskalis and Volker Stevin (foundations supply and installation) and Siem (cable supply and installation) and expected to be completed in 2017. Veja Mate was advised by CMS Hasche Sigle, (legal advisor), Green Giraffe (financial advisor), K2 Management (technical), Ernst & Young (tax & accounting), JCRA (hedging) and Marsh (risk management and insurance). The lenders were advised by Benatar & Co Ltd (insurance), Ernst & Young (model audit), Sgurr Energy (technical) and Watson Farley & Williams (legal). Additionally, EKF was advised by Kromann Reumert (legal). About Laidlaw Capital About Siemens Financial Services About CIP Contact persons: 2015-06-30 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de |
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