Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises J&T BANKA and J&T IB and Capital Markets on successful issuance of CZK 530 million bonds by ENERGO-PRO Green Finance

Clifford Chance Prague acted as a Czech legal counsel to the sole lead manager J&T BANKA and the arranger J&T IB and Capital Markets on successful issuance of CZK 530 million 6.5 % bonds with the possibility of an increase up to CZK 1.06 billion by issuer ENERGO-PRO Green Finance. The bonds are secured by a guarantee provided by DK Holding Investments and pledge of a minority stake of shares in ENERGO-PRO a.s.

ENERGO-PRO Green Finance is a member of the group of companies which core business is distribution, supply and generation of energy from renewable resources, in particular hydropower energy. The ENERGO-PRO group operates nearly 40 hydropower plants in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Black Sea Region (including recently commissioned hydropower plants Karakurt and Alpaslan 2 located in Turkey and representing the largest Czech investment in hydropower industry since November 1989) and is still expanding.

The prospectus and terms and conditions of the bonds needed to reflect the complexity of the regulation affecting the operation of the group's business, including various tariffs and subsidies provided in the individual jurisdictions in which the group operates. The prospectus has been approved by the Czech National Bank on 30 September 2020 and the bonds have been admitted to trading on Prague Stock Exchange on 30 October 2020. J&T BANKA witnessed strong demand from investors and expects all of the CZK 530 million bonds to be subscribed shortly after the admission to trading.

The Clifford Chance team provided comprehensive Czech legal services in connection with the bond's issue, including preparation of the prospectus and terms and conditions of the bonds as well as security documentation and contractual arrangements between the arranger, manager, administrator and security agent, on one side, and issuer and guarantor of the bonds, on the other side. The team was supervised by Partner Miloš Felgr, managed by Senior Associate Vladimír Rýlich and assisted by Associate Pavel Boguský and Junior Lawyer Kateřina Šlapáková.