CMS advises Octopus Energy on 20% stake by Origin Energy

International law firm CMS has advised Octopus Energy, the UK energy technology group, in relation to a 20% investment in the company by Australian energy company Origin Energy. The deal values Octopus Energy at over £1 billion.

Octopus Energy plans to use the investment to open and expand in more markets, invest in deeper technology development, and to establish a Future Energy Research Centre, bringing together academics, policy experts and data scientists to drive research and modelling to make the global renewable energy transition faster and cheaper. 

Origin Energy is a leading Australian energy company with approximately 4.2 million customer accounts, more than 7,000 MW of owned and contracted generation capacity including 1,200 MW of wind and solar energy, and one of Australia’s major gas producers through its joint venture, Australia Pacific LNG.

Charles Currier, Co-Head of Corporate at CMS, comments: “Octopus Energy is a truly forward-looking company with a mission to make green energy affordable. We are pleased to have assisted them on this strategic investment by Origin Energy and believe this will enable Octopus Energy to continue making great strides in enabling cheaper, greener power for millions of homes.”

Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, says: “CMS's team, led by Charles Currier, delivered a real win-win for Octopus and Origin. Bringing together a market-leading public company and a fast growth tech-based challenger is always an achievement, but to do so across continents during the height of the Covid crisis required tremendous tenacity and creativity from the whole deal team."

The CMS team included Charles Currier, Sandra Rafferty, Nicola Curry, Karl Williams, Ben McParland and Catherine Little (Corporate), Jonathan Dames, Stephanie Flynn, Jessica Hastings and Danielle Rumens (Banking), Stephen Hignett, Andy Quayle, Preena Gandhi and Aoife Fenlon (Tax).