Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance advises CPP Investments on refinancing of EUR 510 million investment in Germany's biggest offshore wind farm
12 February 2020
- Florian Mahler, Björn Heinlein, Dominik Heß, Pamela Schaarschmidt, Philip Walsh, , , Martin Wurth, , Holger Nõmm, Louis Mamère,
Clifford Chance advises CPP Investments on refinancing of EUR 510 million investment in Germany's biggest offshore wind farm
Clifford Chance has advised Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) on the EUR 510.6 million green bond refinancing of CPP Investments's minority interest in the "Hohe See" and "Albatros" offshore wind projects, Germany's biggest offshore wind farm to date.
The debt refinancing follows CPP Investments’s acquisition of 49 percent of leading Canadian energy company Enbridge Inc’s original 49.89 percent ownership in the two projects, which Enbridge in turn had acquired from EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG.
In total, over EUR 510 million of senior secured notes were issued and placed with 18 institutional lenders in Europe led by the Talanx Group. The notes, which were rated BBB+ by Scope Ratings, attracted strong interest from the market. The notes were structured to qualify as green bonds under CPP Investments’s Green Bond Framework.
Hohe See and Albatros, with a combined capacity of 609 megawatts, is Germany’s largest offshore wind power plant, located in the North Sea approximately 100 kilometres north of Borkum. Both Hohe See and Albatros are now generating approximately 2,500 GWh of electricity annually, providing energy to power around 710,000 homes.
Florian Mahler, project finance partner at Clifford Chance, comments: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to assist CPP Investments with this complex and innovative double Holdco-Financing structure. We have once again demonstrated the unique international expertise and capabilities of our project finance team at Clifford Chance in Germany and in Europe. We are very excited to once again support with a bond financing in the offshore wind sector in Germany."
The international Clifford Chance team advising CPP Investments was led by partner Florian Mahler (Project Finance) and comprised partner Björn Heinlein, counsel Dominik Heß (Corporate/Energy), associate Pamela Horn (Project Finance) (all Düsseldorf), senior associate Philip Walsh and associate Rutger Dekker (both Project Finance, Amsterdam), senior associate Kasia Sienko (Project Finance, London), partner Martin Wurth, senior associate Eimear O'Dwyer, associate Holger Nõmm (all Finance) as well as senior associate Louis Mamère and associate Nils Hülsenbeck (both Corporate, all Luxembourg).
