Q3 2021 renewables legal adviser rankings

inspiratia reviews the performance of legal advisors for Q1 to Q3 2021, with electricity distribution deal carrying three law firms to top of the rankings.

With just one more quarter to go in 2021, the renewables sector continues to rack up landmark deals which have kept legal advisers busy, especially in Q3.

But first, with an aggregated transaction volume of US$16.3 billion (£11.9bn €14bn) the top law firm in inspiratia's renewable rankings for Q1 to Q3 2021 is Ashurst.

The law firm participated in a number of high-profile deals in so far 2021, concentrated in Europe and Asia Pacific, including the UK's Hornsea 1 offshore electricity transmission (OFTO) project, Tilt Renewables acquisition and most notably the Western Power Distribution acquisition that settled at a deal value of US$10.7 billion (£7.8bn €8.9bn).

Most recently, Ashurst was active in Luxembourg, advising Foresight Group on its acquisition of the Puskakporki onshore wind farm. The deal marks Foresight's first onshore wind investment in Finland. The 88MW project was acquired for US$1.12 billion (£811m €957m) through Foresight's Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (FEIP) fund.

Eversheds Sutherland ranks in second place, advising on an aggregated disclosed volume of US$12.7 billion (£9.2bn €10.8bn). A large share of this disclosed volume includes the US$1.6 billion (£1.1bn €1.3bn) acquisition of 752MW Borssele 1 & 2 offshore wind farms in June [2021], and the acquisition of the Western Power Distribution (WPD), the UK's largest electricity distribution network. Eversheds advised the sellers, National Grids, which sold their stakes to Pennsylvania-based PPL Corporation.

Herbert Smith Freehills also participated in the Western Power Distribution deal, bringing it up to third position in the Q1 to Q3 2021 rankings, but it also recently had its hands in South Africa's 40MW Kesses PV plant, where it advised a group of lenders in the project finance deal. Kesses is being developed by global IPP Alten Energías Renovables for a transaction value of US$98.4 million (£69.5m €80.6m).

Deal Count

Analysing the deal count for Q1 to Q3, DLA Piper secured first spot having participated in 64 global deals.

One of DLA Piper's most notable advisory roles was on the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger between Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. and Heliogen – a US-based renewable energy technology company. DLA Piper advised Athena Technology in the merger. The deal reached financial close in September [2021] with a disclosed transaction volume of US$2 billion (£1.4bn €1.7bn). Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. is an entirely women-led SPAC. The merger integrates Heliogen's artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled concentrated solar energy product, On-Demand Renewable Energy.

Watson Farley & Williams secured second place with a total of 56 deals. The firm advised European renewable developer, Lightsource-bp, on its US$1.8 billion (£1.3bn €1.3bn) revolving credit facility in September [2021]. The debt facility will enable Lightsource bp to realise its plans of developing up to 25GW of solar projects by 2025. The loan involved 10 lenders including CIBC, Santander, Lloyds Banking Group, and MUFG.

Orrick ranked in third place with a cumulative total of 39 deals. The Hornsea 1 OFTO project, which closed in Q1 2021, remains the largest project in Orrick's portfolio of work this year. The law firm, however, did manage to include the 100% sale of the Beatrice OFTO project to Transmission Capital Partners (TCP) – a consortium comprising Amber Infrastructure Group, International Public Partnerships Limited and Transmission Investment. Orrick advised the sellers, SSE Renewables, Red Rock Power, Equitix and The Renewables Infrastructure Group in the US$611.5 million (£437m €514m).

Q3 2021 focus

Examining the data solely for Q3 2021, DLA piper retains top of the rankings in both deal count and total deal volume, respectively achieving 24 deal counts and a disclosed volume of US$3.99 billion (£2.93bn €3.44bn). Apart from the notable Heliogen mentioned earlier, DLA Piper also recently had its hands in advising Vital Energi in the closing of its design, build, operation and maintenance contract of energy facilities for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. The project entails the construction of efficient heating and power solution for several buildings on The Christies hospital estate.

Watson Farley & Williams comes in second with a total of 17 deals. The largest deal for Q3 2021 by deal volume is the refinancing of a 49.9MW concentrated solar PV (CSP) plant in Fuente Palmera, Spain. Three banks participated in the deal including Caixabank, BNP Paribas and Santander contributing a total US$335 million (£243m €283m).

Taking up the third position by total transaction volume is Norton Rose Fulbright, having advised on 4 deals with a disclosed transaction volume of US$2.11 billion (£1.55m €1.82bn). This figure has a lot to do with the acquisition of the US-based operations of Enwave Energy – a previously-owned district heating subsidiary of Brookfield Infrastructure in July [2021]. Alongside financial advisers, Macquarie Capital, Norton Rose Fulbright advised the buyers, state-owned investment company Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) and insurance firm Ullico on the deal.