Reff & Associates and Deloitte Romania assisted Danish group Vestas Wind Systems in the sale of wind farms to Ingka Group

Reff & Associates, the law firm representing Deloitte Legal in Romania, assisted the Danish group Vestas Wind Systems, in the sale of 80% of its subsidiaries owning Pantelimon, Pegasus and Apollo wind power plants, to the subsidiary of Ingka Group’s investment division in Romania, IRI Investments. 

The agreement also marks Ingka Group’s entry on the Romanian renewable energy market, in partnership with Vestas.

”We are very pleased with the collaboration with Reff & Associates and Deloitte Romania and their role in this deal, which marks another step in our strong relationship with IKEA. The deal is a good example of how we work with our many partners to help create a world powered by renewable energies,” says Heiko Wehrhahn, Vestas Head of Financial Solutions NCE.

The transaction was signed at the end of August 2019 for a selling price of EUR 136 million and was finalized on October 21, 2019. The completion was subject to certain closing conditions, including approval by the Romanian Competition Council.

“The transaction brought at the same table two of the largest groups in the world, Vestas and Ikea, as a comeback of the renewable energy transactions in Romania, after so many years of a standstill market," said Diana Fejer, Senior Managing Associate with Reff & Associates and coordinator of the legal team which worked on this project.

Reff & Associates was involved in the entire structuring and negotiation process of the transaction, including the preparation and negotiation of the share purchase agreement and the shareholders agreement, as well as assistance for meeting the conditions precedent. The team of lawyers was coordinated by Diana Fejer, Senior Managing Associate, with the support of Ilinca Iliescu, Senior Associate, and Alexandru Ulici, Associate, and input from specialists in specific law areas: Anca Melinte, Managing Associate, and Cristiana Baltag, Senior Associate.

Deloitte Tax Romania was also involved in the transaction, providing significant support during the tax due diligence and structuring of the transaction. The tax team was coordinated by Raluca Baldea, Director, and Ana Sabiescu, Senior Manager, with the contribution of Elena Geageac, Senior Manager, and Iulia Bica, Manager.

“This is one of the transactions in the renewable energy field which is going to be remembered due to its value and complexity and the global scale of the involved parties. For us as lawyers it was a great opportunity and a true pleasure to be part of it and to try to make the process of completion as smooth as possible for our client,” said Georgiana Singurel, Partner at Reff & Associates, who leads the Corporate M&A practice.

Vestas Wind Systems designs, manufactures, installs and services wind turbines across the globe and has wind turbines in 80 countries. The company was founded in 1945 and, as of 2013, it is the largest wind turbine company in the world. It operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, Romania, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Australia, China and the United States and employs more than 21,000 people globally.