WFW Advises CIP on OffshoreMW Acquisition

International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) on the acquisition of 100% of OffshoreMW, which holds a 675km² offshore wind energy lease off the coast of Massachusetts. 

Outside the US, CIP already owns stakes in two offshore wind farms – the 588MW Beatrice in the UK and the 402MW Veja Mate in Germany, with WFW also involved in both transactions.

OffshoreMW is eligible to participate in the utility tender program established by the recently enacted legislation in the state of Massachusetts, which calls for a total of 600 MW of new offshore wind capacity by 2027. The first tender round to obtain a long term power off-take agreement, in which CIP’s new project is eligible to participate, should take place mid-2017, with the first power supplied by the projects expected in 2021.

The transatlantic WFW team advising CIP was led by London partner and Global Energy & Infrastructure Sector Head Evan Stergoulis, who said: “I’m delighted to have advised CIP on their second foray into the US renewables markets, a clear demonstration of the trust they place in us and in our sector expertise. This also highlights the high regard in which our New York practice is held, a vital component of any truly global renewables practice given the increasing interest European investors and developers, a number of whom we are also advising, are showing in the US onshore and offshore wind markets”.

WFW had also advised Erste Nordsee-Offshore-Holding GmbH, a joint subsidiary of STRABAG SE and, indirectly, Etanax GmbH, on the legal and tax aspects of the recent Global Tech II sale to Vattenfall.