Baker & McKenzie has acted on two major foreign acquisitions of Australian wind farms in the last week, both led by prominent renewable energy lawyer and partner Paul Curnow.
The Firm advised Malaysia’s Malakoff Corporation Berhad on its purchase of a 50% equity interest in the $1.2billion Macarthur wind farm from Meridian Energy. Macarthur is a 450MW wind farm in Victoria – the largest in the southern hemisphere.
The deal involved a large team of Baker & McKenzie lawyers in Sydney, Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur, led by Mr. Curnow, partner Sean Rush and senior associate Robyn Farrell (Project financing), partner John Walker and senior associate Miles Hurst (Tax), Property senior associate Kate Phillips, partner Abdul Aziz Munir (Kuala Lumpur), and associate Megan Flynn.
Baker & McKenzie has also advised Thailand’s Electricity Generating Public Company (EGCO) on its acquisition of the $350million Boco Rock wind farm from Continental Wind Partners and GE Energy Financial Services. The Firm also advised on the project financing of the deal.
Mr. Curnow, head of Baker & McKenzie’s Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy team said, “This is the first time the two Asian energy companies have invested in Australia and that the deals are another sign of ‘the world’s increasing interest in Australia’s renewable energy sector.’ We have seen growing interest by foreign investors in this space, particularly from Asian investors – and given Australia’s 20% target we expect to see a lot more in the coming years.”
The deal by EGCO also involved a large team of Baker & McKenzie lawyers in Sydney and Bangkok, led by Curnow and senior associates Simon Greenacre and Robyn Farrell. They were assisted by partners Sean Rush (Financing) and Sawanee A. Sethsathira (Bangkok), along with senior associates Kate Phillips and Craig Amundsen and a team of associates.
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