Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) is delighted to announce that two deals the firm advised on have won awards at the prestigious IJGlobal Awards 2023.
WFW advised Natixis CIB and Santander as lenders on a €700m Spanish greenfield PV portfolio project financing that was named Renewable Energy Deal of the Year – Solar: Europe. With the portfolio owned by Cobra, a subsidiary of French group Vinci, comprising 21 plants with a total installed capacity of 1,231 MWp, this is one of the largest portfolio financings in terms of MW capacity to date in the Spanish renewables market.
The WFW Madrid Finance team advising Natixis CIB and Santander was led by Partner Rodrigo Berasategui, working closely with Senior Associate Antonio Cáneva and Associates Beltrán Silva and Arancha Ruesta. Senior Associate Ignacio Soria and Associates María Vela and Lucas Serna advised on the regulatory aspects of the transaction.
The award for Refinancing Deal of the Year – Power: Europe meanwhile went to the £350m refinancing of West Burton Energy’s1.3 GW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine and 49 MW battery storage facility in Nottinghamshire, UK, on which WFW advised the lenders. This was the largest gas generation project financing in the UK in over a decade.
The WFW London Projects team advising the lenders was led by Partner Jennifer Charles, assisted by Associates George Garthwaite and Ben Charles, with specialist input from Tax Partner Claire Miles and Senior Associate James Fryer.
Rodrigo commented: “We are delighted that this milestone transaction has been recognised by IJGlobal, reinforcing as it does the dynamism, sophistication and attractiveness of the Spanish market to global investors, and WFW Madrid’s standing as the leading legal advisor in Spain bar none for big ticket renewable project financings”.
Jennifer added: “It’s fantastic that the importance of this deal to the UK’s energy transition and security has been acknowledged with this award win. It is a perfect example of the strength and depth of our expertise across the energy sector both in the UK and more broadly”.
