2020 renewables legal adviser rankings
Gergely Kaszasinspiratia looks back at 2020 to review the most active legal advisers in renewables for the year, by both number of deals advised and aggregate transaction volume. The results reflect a strong renewable energy market as the top three firms closed a record number of deals with a record high transaction volume
The firm which excelled in inspiratia's renewables legal adviser rankings for 2020 by advising on circa US$38 billion (£27.7bn €31.3bn) worth of renewables projects across the globe was Linklaters.
According to data from inspiratia's proprietary database, dataLive, the law firm had most of its focus within Europe, which accounted for 71% of its total activity.
Throughout 2020, the firm continued its consistent record assisting offshore wind projects and supported the sponsors as legal adviser in one of the largest greenfield renewable deals to date. Linklaters acted on behalf of SSE Renewables and Equinor on the £5.5 billion (€6.1bn US$7.3bn) financing deal for the 3.6GW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm. The law firm has advised on the construction, development, and financing of the Dogger Bank A and B phases. Once all three phases are complete in 2026, the Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be the largest offshore wind facility on the globe.
Top 10 legal advisers by transaction volume, 2020
Source: inspiratia | datalive
Watson Farley & Williams takes second place in the renewables space by advising on US$18.9 billion (£13.8bn €15.6bn) worth of projects. Most notably, WFW advised the seller, I Squared Capital, on the acquisition process of Grupo T-Solar, an IPP in Spain boasting a 274MW portfolio of operational solar PV and an investment pipeline of around 1.4GW. London-based investor Cubico agreed to buy Grupo T-Solar from I Squared Capital in a deal reflecting an enterprise value of €1.5 billion (£1.3bn US$1.8bn).
Norton Rose Fulbright follows not too far behind WFW in the third position having advised on US$13.5 billion (£9.9bn €11.3bn) of renewables projects over the course of 2020. In large part, the firm owes its position to its role in the Dogger Bank project, having offered legal advice to the lending banks. The deal involved 29 banks including Lloyds, NatWest, Societe Generale, MUFG, Santander, SMBC, Barclays, and BNP Paribas, and the total senior debt facilities on Dogger Bank A and B is £4.8 billion (€5.3bn US$ 6.4bn) plus ancillary facilities of around £0.7 billion (€785m US$935m).
Meanwhile, Allen & Overy (A&O) also notched up a strong activity in the European market, with 73% of its US$12.4 billion (£9bn €10.2bn) total comprising projects located in the continent. A&O's performance in renewables complements the first position it registered in our 2020 infrastructure legal adviser rankings.
Deal count
When looking at the most active law firms in the renewables sector in 2020 it is revealed that Watson Farley & Williams advised on the highest number of projects. Of the 94 projects recorded by dataLive, some 89 were located in Europe, two in Asia Pacific, and one each in Latin America, North America, and the Middle East.
Top 10 legal advisers by deal count, 2020
Source: inspiratia | datalive
DLA Piper comes second in the deal count section with 67 deals. The firm realised over 70% of its finalised renewable energy contracts in secondary transactions. In particular, the firm advised Iberdrola on its AUD893 million (£506m €571m US$693m) takeover of Australian renewable energy developer Infigen Energy. During the acquisition process, Iberdrola fended off a hostile takeover from rival UAC Energy, whose original offer was not only rejected by Infigen's board but also triggered a bidding war for the company. The cross-border DLA team supported Iberdrola through the Foreign Investment Review Board approval process and expedited an approval within weeks.
Linklaters found itself in third place with 49 projects. After placing first in terms of transaction volume, this result shows that the company worked on projects with slightly higher deal sizes when compared to some of its peers. Among the top three firms, Linklaters logged the highest number of deals in the Latin American region after working on four different projects there.
Q4
When examining data from Q4 only, it becomes evident that Linklaters shot to the top of the annual rankings by closing many high value transactions in the last quarter of the year. The firm logged 23 deals worth US$22.6 billion (£16.5bn €18.6bn) in Q4.
In its second largest deal during 2020, Linklaters advised Ireland's ESB, which took a 50% stake in Red Rock's Inch Cape offshore wind farm from. The 1GW Inch Cape project will be built by a joint venture of the two companies. ESB has labelled the €3 billion (£2.7bn US$3.5bn) project as a 'milestone investment in offshore wind' for the company and regulatory consent is already in place for the 72-turbine wind farm.
In terms of transaction value, Norton Rose Fulbright came after Linklaters having accumulated a quarterly volume of US$7.3 billion (£5.3bn €6bn), and Allen & Overy third.
The competition is more closely matched in the deal count section. WFW took the top spot with 24 deals, followed closely by Linklaters with 23 deals, and DLA Piper in the third position with 21.
