DLA Piper advises BASF on selling 25.2% of the offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid to Allianz

DLA Piper has advised BASF on selling 25.2% of the offshore windfarm Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) in the Netherlands to Allianz. Allianz Capital Partners, on behalf of Allianz Insurance Companies (Allianz) and BASF, have agreed on this purchase following a transaction between Vattenfall and BASF in September 2021 under which BASF acquired 49.5% of HKZ from Vattenfall.

BASF had already indicated that it intends to reduce its investment by selling shares to a financial co-investor. The closing of the transaction with Allianz is subject to merger control approvals. Following the closing, which is expected in Q1 2022, BASF will consolidate its remaining 24.3% participation at-equity.

BASF will continue to receive most of the power produced by its originally acquired share of 49.5% of HKZ under a long-term fixed-price corporate power purchasing agreement.

Once fully operational, the wind farm will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world with 140 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 1.5 Gigawatt. The Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm will also be the first fully merchant offshore wind farm in the world which does not receive any price subsidies for the power produced. The project is expected to become fully operational in 2023.

DLA Piper has already advised BASF on the acquisition of 49.5 % of HKZ earlier this year and on the closing of further large-volume power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Ørsted and Engie. The international DLA Piper team for this transaction was jointly led by partners Dr Benjamin Parameswaran (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg) and Michael Cieslarczyk (Energy Law, Cologne). The core team also included counsel Dr Philipp Clemens, Cristina Helena Villafrade (both Corporate/M&A, Hamburg) and senior associate Christopher Ollech (Energy Law, Cologne). In Germany, partners Dr Wolfram Distler (Finance), Semin O (Antitrust), counsel Martin Wilmsen (Finance), Sergej Bräuer (Antitrust), senior associates Patrick Reuter (Finance, all Frankfurt), Friederike Rickers, Sophie von Mandelsloh (both Corporate/M&A, Hamburg) and associates Ilgin Ayhan (Frankfurt) and Elisabeth Spiecker (both Finance, Cologne) were also involved.

Additionally, numerous lawyers from other jurisdictions were involved in the transaction from the DLA Piper offices in the Netherlands, UK, Austria and Singapore, including partners Richard Fens (Corporate), Jean Paul Dresen (Tax), Gerard Kneppers (Finance) and Arjen de Snoo (Lit&Reg, all Amsterdam). The in-house legal team at BASF for this transaction was led by Dr Stefan Rothweiler (Director Legal Corporate). Furthermore, Dr Holger Pattberg was responsible for Finance, Stephan Purps for Antitrust Law and Dr Britta Welke for Energy Law.