International legal practice Osborne Clarke has seen a step change in the development of Energy Innovation businesses in 2019, including the recent completion of three key transactions on which they advised.
In February the team advised the shareholders of Limejump on the acquisition of the company by Shell Energy. The deal enabled both companies to take steps to support the UK energy system’s transition to a lower carbon future. The acquisition allows Limejump to make a much greater impact on the market, strengthen its products with new innovative features and enhance its customers' experience.
In June the team advised Statera Energy on its strategic 15-year partnership with Statkraft to realise 1 GW of energy storage and utility scale, flexible gas-powered generation. The partnership will contribute to a reduction in conventional, less flexible, fossil fuel generation and carbon emissions in the UK’s electricity system. Statera is the UK’s leading developer, owner and operator of battery storage projects. As part of the partnership, Statera will provide one of the UK’s largest battery facilities to store renewable energy at times of excess production. Statera will also deliver high efficiency gas reciprocating engines to flexibly generate electricity at times of under-production or peak demand.
In July the team advised Via Novus on the £35M Cube funding for the Engenie business, one of the UK’s fastest growing electric vehicle (EV) rapid charging networks. The investment backs Engenie's vision of building thousands of open-access, renewably-powered rapid EV chargers, doubling the current number of rapid charge points in the UK by 2024. The investment will also see Engenie become the UK’s best funded independent EV charging network.
M&A Partner, David Ferris said: "Technology and innovation is key to the balancing of the ever-increasing energy demand and intermittent renewable energy generation. EVs and new mobility models add to this mix. We have been active in this space for many years and so it's great to see the success of these innovative businesses and the scale-up transactions they are undertaking."
Corporate and energy specialist, Alex Underwood said: "With the ongoing decentralisation of the energy system there is both an increase in market opportunities as well as routes to them. It is an exciting time to be working in this sector with clients and businesses who are adapting technology and digital platforms to enhance or create new business models and deployment strategies."
Osborne Clarke's international energy and utilities team is one of the largest and most experienced legal teams in the sector. With more than 100 international lawyers, the team provide clients with in-depth expertise in all of Europe’s major economies advising on topics ranging from the cutting-edge of distributed generation and system intelligence to contextualising changes to local energy regulatory regimes.
The team regularly host networking and thought leadership events and recently held an Energy showcase for clients at the firm's flagship head office at One London Wall.
> Find out more about future events and read insights from the team.
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