European Commission Nods to Merkur Ownership Change

The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Merkur Offshore GmbH by APG Asset Management N.V. and InfraRed Capital Partners Limited.

The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the companies’ moderate combined market positions resulting from the proposed transaction. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.

Back in December 2019, The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG), for which InfraRed Capital Partners Limited is the investment manager, and the Dutch pension investor APG signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Merkur Offshore GmbH with a consortium comprising funds managed and/or advised by Partners Group (50%), InfraRed Capital Partners (25%), DEME Concessions (12.5%), GE Energy Financial Services (6.25%) and ADEME, acting on behalf of France “Investments for the Future” programme (6.25%).

Merkur Offshore GmbH is a Hamburg-based company which has been responsible for the planning and construction of the Merkur offshore wind farm located some 45 kilometres north of the Borkum Island.

Merkur comprises 66 General Electric (GE) Haliade-150 6MW offshore wind turbines which were fully commissioned in June 2019.

The wind farm has a guaranteed Feed-in-Tariff until 2033, and a 10-year O&M agreement with GE Renewable Energy for the service and maintenance of the turbines.