Bird & Bird advises KKR partner EGC on the growth and ex-pansion of an innovative energy supply platform

EGC is a nationwide provider of plant-based energy services and energy products. Headquartered in Düsseldorf, the group currently operates over 1,000 heating systems and microgrids throughout Germany. EGC recently announced a strategic partnership with the leading global investment company KKR. Together with EGC, KKR is pursuing the vision of driving decarbonisation in the real estate sector by optimising sustainable energy supply. The aim of this buy-and-build strategy, which is being legally supported by Bird & Bird, is to further develop existing energy services and energy products in a greener and more future-proof manner by acquiring companies or asset portfolios active in this field. The two transactions mark the first steps in the development of a German and European Energy-As-A-Service platform in the heat and energy supply sector. 

Dr Sandra Schuh, Bird & Bird Corporate / M&A Partner, comments: "We are delighted to be advising the EGC Group on this exciting and forward-looking journey and to be working together on future transactions. In this context, it is particularly important to keep an eye on both transaction-related and energy law issues in the changing regulatory environment. These transactions show how private equity can drive the energy transition forward."

About Green Way Energy GmbH

In an initial transaction, EGC acquired Green Way Energy GmbH (GWE). GWE offers tailor-made solutions for sustainable and ecological energy supply for all types of real estate. The legal advice provided covered both the review of the diverse regulatory requirements and the examination of their implementation in the existing contractual relationships.

About the investment portfolio

As part of a second transaction, EGC acquired an existing portfolio of energy generation plants from BEW Solutions GmbH (BEW), a nationwide company formerly owned by Vattenfall. As part of a strategic realignment, BEW intended to divest itself of 140 locations in the field of heat supply and power generation outside the federal state of Berlin, which will now be taken over and operated by the EGC Group. The legal focus here was on the transfer of multi-layered contractual relationships in compliance with complex energy law requirements.

Dr Matthias Lang, Bird & Bird partner and head of the international Energy & Utilities Sector Group, comments: "It is great to see that we were able to put our energy law expertise to work on these projects and thus advise the EGC Group on its ambitious development in this exciting, rapidly evolving environment."

The EGC Group has been advised by the following Bird & Bird lawyers: Partner Dr Sandra Schuh, LL.M. (lead), Senior associate Michael Rosenfeld, associates Kilian Hummel and Michelle Pohl (all Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), partner Johannes Wirtz, LL.M. and associate Pascal Leitmann (both Finance & Financial Regulation, Frankfurt), Senior Counsel Elie Kaufman, LL.M., associate Amelia Weber (both Real Estate, Frankfurt) and Julian Lauer (Real Estate, Hamburg), partner Dr Matthias Lang, Dr Hermann Rothfuchs and Lars Kyrberg, Counsel Anja Holtermann, LL.M., and associates Dr Tobias Büscher and Ole Koester (all Energy, Düsseldorf/Hamburg), partner Dr Barbara Geck, associates Carina Wirtz and Henry Nicolai (all Employment, Frankfurt), partner Dr Stephan Waldheim and Counsel Dr Florian Hinderer (both Antitrust, Düsseldorf).