Hamburg – Global Tech Offshore Wind GmbH, the operating company behind the 400 MW Global Tech I wind farm in the North Sea, has completed a comprehensive refinancing of existing loans. The wind farm is held by a group of sponsors led by Stadtwerke München, Axpo International S.A. and Entega AG. Closing of the refinancing took place on 2 November of this year. A package totalling EUR 520 million was arranged by the participating banks – Société Générale, SEB, KfW IPEX-Bank, Bayern LB, Rabobank, ING and ASN. This includes an institutional fixed-interest tranche of EUR 100 million that was fully subscribed by Kommunalkredit Austria. CMS London advised the project company in particular on replacement of the existing ISDA-based interest-rate hedging instruments and the conclusion of new ones.
An international CMS team headed by lead partner Dr Marc Riede again advised Global Tech I Offshore Wind GmbH on all legal aspects of the refinancing. The team has been providing the operating company with legal support on a regular basis since the project was launched in 2011. Throughout realisation, CMS has provided comprehensive advice on project planning, construction and further rounds of financing. This is one of the first project finance arrangements for an offshore wind farm in Germany.
The Global Tech I offshore wind farm is located some 100 kilometres off Germany’s North Sea coast and consists of 80 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 400 MW. When operating at full capacity, around 445,000 households can be supplied with clean energy. Global Tech I went operational in 2015. The first project finance arrangement achieved financial close in 2011, with 16 commercial banks plus KfW and EIB providing EUR 1 billion.
Global Tech I Offshore Wind GmbH
Maximilian Feustel, Inhouse Legal Counsel, Head of Corporate and Financing Law
CMS Germany
Dr Marc Riede, Lead Partner Financing
Dr Kerstin Block, Partner
Carl Werner, Counsel
Nicolai Bischof, Associate
Dr Christian Schneiders, Associate, all Banking & Finance
Dr Holger Kraft, Lead Partner Corporate
Luise Pelzer, Senior Associate
Marvin Hoffmann, Associate, all Corporate/M&A
Dr Niklas Ganssauge, Partner
Dr Dorothée Janzen, Partner, both Energy, Projects and Construction
Dr Olaf Thießen, Principal Counsel, Tax
Dr Charlotte Louise Schildt, Partner
Prof. Arthur M. Swierczok, Senior Associate, both Restructuring & Insolvency
CMS UK
Jason Harding, Partner
Marion Carpanen, Senior Associate
Uneso Moyo, Associate
Sofiya Yerokhina, Trainee
CMS Luxembourg
Vivian Walry, Partner
Zornitsa Dimitrova, Senior Associate
Benjamin Lievin, Managing Associate
Rossana Tsenova, Associate
Press Contact
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