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52-turbine wind farm sold
Two firms have advised on the acquisition of a Victorian wind farm that has the capacity to meet the electricity needs of up to 62,000 households.
Emma Musgrave
Firms: Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Mitsui & Co. Australia Ltd.); Herbert Smith Freehills (Infrastructure Capital Group)
Value: Undisclosed
Area: M&A
Key players: The legal team advising Mitsui was led by Corrs Chambers Westgarth partner Robert Clarke (pictured left), with assistance from senior associate Judith Tosh and lawyers Simone Lim and Sally Milner.
The legal team advising ICG was led by Herbert Smith Freehills partners David Ryan (pictured right) and Gerard Pike, with assistance from senior associate Jennifer Harding and solicitors Mary Griffiths and Kai Ito.
Deal significance: The Bald Hills Wind Farm is a 52-turbine wind farm with an aggregate installed capacity of 106.6MW located in South Gippsland, Victoria. It has an off-take agreement with Alinta that runs to 2030.
The wind farm has the capacity to meet the electricity needs of up to 62,000 average households and will make an important contribution to achieving the Australian government's 2020 Renewable Energy Target.
EIT acquired the Bald Hills Wind Farm from the project’s developer, Mitsui & Co., bringing ICG’s renewable energy generation capacity to 455MW across five wind farms in Australia.
The transaction was completed on 28 February 2017, and follows a competitive bid process. As part of the transaction, EIT assumed the existing project financing for the project.
“We are delighted to work with Mitsui on this important transaction, a landmark deal for the Japanese trading house both in Australia and globally,” said Corrs Chambers Westgarth partner Robert Clarke.
“Bald Hills Wind Farm represents the first ever project 100 per cent owned, developed and operated by Mitsui, anywhere in the world. It has been a tremendous success for the company, and we are thrilled to have worked with sophisticated clients on achieving their strategic goals.”
Also commenting on the deal, Herbert Smith Freehills partner David Ryan said, “We are very pleased to have worked with Craig Whalen, Daniel Beaver, Adrian Kong and the rest of the team at ICG on their successful acquisition of the Bald Hills Wind Farm, and to assist with the continued expansion of EIT’s renewable energy portfolio in Australia.”
“ICG is a commercial and sophisticated investor, and always a pleasure to work with,” he said.
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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