Lawyer Monthly Transaction Reports - Mergers & Acquisitions 76 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM MAR 2022 ABOUT THE DEAL Investment firm Kobus Partners has acquired three photovoltaic solar projects from Esparity Solar. The projects add an aggregate installed capacity of 250 MW through the firm’s third venture capital fund, Kobus Renewable Energy III. Cordovilla, the largest of the projects with its capacity of 150 MW, will be located in Navarra, while the other two, Salinetas and Salinetas II – each with an installed capacity of 50 MW – will be located in the province of Alicante. In a statement, Kobus Partners explained that these acquisitions are part of the fund’s strategy of acquiring projects that are in the final phase of development, under construction or in operation, with the end goal of building an integrated portfolio of around 500 MW for assets that generate electricity from renewable energy sources. These assets are expected to be located predominantly in Spain and Portugal. Kobus Partners was advised on the closing of the transaction by Deloitte Legal. The teamwas led by director Susana López Claver and partners José María Barrios Garrido and Ignacio Echenagusia, with senior associates David Porras and Ignacio Alonso and associates María Moreno and Alejandro Galván also participating. Can you tell us more about the skills your team brought to the deal? Our Energy team is unique compared to others in the Energy M&A practice due to the fact that it is composed of a multidisciplinary group of lawyers with deep expertise in any field affecting the energy sector from a corporate, public law and regulatory, transactional, financing, environmental, or tax perspective. The team that took part in the deal was made of a group of experts that has ensured that all the branches of the law affected by the transaction were covered with the maximum level of quality. When providing the relevant legal advice, our team was committed to helping Kobus Partners when keeping abreast with the market and complex regulatory aspects arising as a result of the relevant transaction, providing innovative solutions for ensuring its final success. Did you encounter any challenges related to closing the transaction? How did you overcome them? The main characteristic of the relevant transaction is that it is not a pure and simple M&A operation, since it involved the acquisition of assets with a level of development that must progress to a certain level at the closing date. That is the reason why the parties had to execute a development agreement aimed at satisfactorily reaching said level of development within the period set for this purpose. What impact do you expect this transaction will have on the energy sector? The relevant transaction undoubtedly contributes to the achievement of the decarbonisation objectives assumed by Spain within the framework of the European Union and which have recently been reflected in the so-called National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC). At the level of the region of Navarra, the impact of the Cordovilla project is truly remarkable, given that it will represent a total of approximately 10% of the regional renewable generation once its commissioning is complete. With regard to the projects located in the Autonomous Community of Valencia, it should be noted that their development falls within the framework of the strategy to promote renewable generation led by the regional government, constituting renewable generation poles that will come to promote the relevance of the renewable sector in the Valencian community. Lawyer Monthly had the pleasure to speak with José María Barrios Garrido, Partner at Deloitte Legal to give us some further insight into this transaction: December 2021 Kobus’ Acquisition fromEsparity Acted as Legal Adviser to Kobus Partners
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