Bird & Bird advises Eiffel on joint venture with aream

The aim of the joint venture is to drive forward the energy transition in Germany. In the coming years, the joint venture plans to develop more than 500 MWp of innovative photovoltaic and battery projects. Eiffel will finance the majority of the joint venture’s future development costs and acquires 49% of the portfolio from aream Group. aream Group will manage the operational business and contribute its extensive expertise in project development.  

Laurent Coubret, Investment Director at Eiffel Investment Group, comments on the successful closing: "We are very excited to enter the booming German market with the Eiffel Transition Infrastructure fund with aream which has proven that it can master the entire solar PV value chain. Together, we are combining all the strengths to make this JV a great success".

Bird & Bird partner Alexander Wojtek comments: “We are thrilled to have advised our longstanding client Eiffel Investment Group on this important transaction. It is a fantastic showcase of the synergies of our project finance and M&A expertise in strategic transactions in the renewable energy space.” 

Eiffel Investment Group invests in corporates and in infrastructures, with debt and equity strategies and manages funds on behalf of major institutional investors and of private investors. The Group has €6 billion in assets under management (as of 31 December 2023, undrawn commitments included). Eiffel Transition Infrastructure is a specialised professional fund classified as Article 9 under SFDR regulations, reserved for institutional investors.

The transaction was co-led by partners Dr. Marc Seeger (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt) and Alexander Wojtek, LL.M. (Finance & Financial Regulation/Project Finance, Hamburg). They were supported by associates Jan Medele, Stephan Dittrich and Henrike Camphausen (all Corporate/M&A, Dusseldorf), Dr. Gregor Jentsch (Finance & Financial Regulation/Project Finance, Hamburg), partner Lars Kyrberg and associates Georg Höxter and Tatjana Beck (all Commercial/Energy & Utilities, Hamburg), partner Dr. Matthias Lang and associate Dr. Tobias Büscher (both Regulatory/Energy & Utilities, Dusseldorf), partner Dr. Stephan Waldheim and associate Maren Steiert (both Competition & EU, Dusseldorf), partner Dr. Rolf Schmich, Counsel Michael Brüggemann, as well as associates Julian Straßel and Thomas Schmidt (all Tax, Frankfurt), Senior Counsel Elie Kaufman, LL.M. (Real Estate, Frankfurt), Counsel Jürgen Schlinkmann (Real Estate, Munich), associate Dr. Julian Lauer (Real Estate, Hamburg), associates Sofia El Biyed and Jasmine Javault (both Corporate/M&A, Paris), as well as partner Benjamin Lichtle and associate Arame-Sophie Loum (both Tax, Lyon).