Bird & Bird LLP has advised Hy24, the world’s largest clean hydrogen infrastructure investment platform on its € 70m investment in Berlin based company H2 MOBILITY Deutschland. The transaction is subject to the evaluation with the relevant merger control authorities.
Hy24, a joint venture between Ardian, a world leading private investment house and Swiss FiveT Hydrogen AG, an investment manager specialized in clean hydrogen investments, is investing €70m alongside H2 MOBILITY’s existing shareholders - Air Liquide, Daimler Truck, Hyundai, Linde, OMV, Shell, and TotalEnergies - who are together investing a further €40m. The investment will be executed by Hy24 through the Clean H2 Infra Fund, which is to date the world’s largest hydrogen fund.
H2 MOBILITY, a leading operator of hydrogen refuelling stations which already operates over 90 stations across Germany, intends to use the funding to further expand its network to 300 stations by 2030 – becoming the backbone of zero-carbon private and commercial traffic in Europe.
Of these, over 200 will be large-scale refuelling stations capable of meeting demand for zero-carbon, heavy-duty and long-haul transportation on the European Continent. Heavy mobility is one of the most challenging sectors of the economy to decarbonise, and hydrogen-powered vehicles offer the best solution, as they can refuel quickly and cover long distances without sacrificing payload.
The expansion of H2 MOBILITY Deutschland’s network will be focused on several high-traffic transportation corridors, giving it a cornerstone role in the future mobility system of the European Union. In a sign of existing demand for hydrogen vehicles, many of the company’s new projects will be developed hand-in-hand with off-takers, public authorities, and fleet operators – guaranteeing baseline offtake for the stations and a significant step towards a profitable and self-sustained refuelling network.
After advising Hy24 and Mirova on their participation in the €200m fund raise of the German company Hy2gen AG, the Bird & Bird cross border team advised this time on the largest capital increase in the Hydrogen refuelling sector which underlines the capabilities and know-how of the team in pioneering ways and establishing technologies and infrastructure to build the future of mobility.
Hy24 was advised by the following Bird & Bird lawyers: Lead partner Dr. Hans Peter Leube, LL.M. (Corporate/PE/VC, Frankfurt), partner Dr. Marc Seeger (Corporate/M&A, Dusseldorf),counsel Dr. Christina Lorenz (Corporate/PE/VC, Munich), associate Felix Spindler (Corporate/M&A, Dusseldorf), partner Dr. Matthias Lang (Energy & Utilities, Dusseldorf), partner Dr. Stephan Waldheim and associate Tamy Tietze (both EU & competition, Dusseldorf), partner Sibylle Weiler (Finance & Energy, Head of Hydrogen Group, Paris) and client relationship partner Xavier Leroux (Corporate/PE/VC, Paris).
