International law firm Clifford Chance is advising longstanding client Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, and its portfolio company Gren, on the acquisition of 11 heat and power generation assets in the UK from Equitix. Gren is a Northern European energy company that was acquired by Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, in 2021.
The acquisition represents Gren’s first in the UK, one of the fastest growing, district heating markets in Europe. The UK is expected to transform how it generates and transports energy as part of its ambitions to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and Gren’s expansion aligns with these plans. Gren currently operates in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The company has 82 generation assets and c. 600km of district heating networks. Gren is responsible for heating 177,000 residential homes and 600 commercial and industrial buildings, playing a key role as an energy partner to local communities.
The acquisition of these UK assets will mean Gren’s overall portfolio now has 1,076 MWth of heat capacity and 152 MWe of power capacity. The assets consist of an energy from waste plant, three combined heat and power plants, seven biomass boiler plants, and offer heat to heat networks, industrial, public, and commercial counterparties, as well as baseload electricity to the local grid. All assets use locally sourced fuels. The assets are complementary to Gren’s existing portfolio, which is largely fuelled by renewable or recycled sources, mainly biomass and waste.
The multi-practice, cross-office Clifford Chance team was led by partner and Infrastructure Global co-head Charlotte Madden in London with support from senior associate Ciarán Cronin, associates Alex Bouwman and Sabrina Brecher, and Director of Financial Investors Natalia van der Laat, as well as partner Jennifer Storey, senior associate Daniel Schwarz and associate Joseph Sherlock on the antitrust and FDI aspects. Senior associates Anthony Santangeli and Dolly Aheto-Tsegah advised on the energy and infrastructure aspects and partner Jemma Dick and senior associate Eli Bursky on the tax aspects.
Partner Katia Gauzès, senior advisor Lauren Harris and associates Konrad Kanaan and Cristina Mudure advised on the Luxembourg aspects.