On August 19, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Schoenherr had advised the MET Group on the acquisition of a 60-megawatt operational wind park in Suvorovo, Western Bulgaria, from Grupo Enhol. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Sandor Zorad, M&A Legal Counsel at the MET Group, to learn more about the deal.
CEEIHM: To begin with, tell us about the MET Group.
Zorad: MET Group is one of the fastest-growing energy companies in Europe. Its main activities are related to natural gas and power (including wholesale, trading, and sales, as well as energy infrastructure and industrial assets). MET Group is headquartered in Switzerland, but it has subsidiaries in 13 European countries, with 700+ permanent staff representing more than 30 nationalities and revenues of over EUR 11 billion.
CEEIHM: MET Group recently acquired a wind park in Suvorovo, Bulgaria. Why did you choose to proceed with this particular project?
Zorad: Renewables are a key component of MET’s strategy going forward.
The acquisition of the 60-megawatt Suvorovo wind farm was completed in December 2021. This is the second Bulgarian wind farm acquisition of MET after buying a 42-megawatt wind park located in North-eastern Bulgaria from Italian Enel in January 2021.
This new acquisition fits well into MET Group’s renewables expansion strategy aiming to increase our renewable portfolio to over 500 megawatts by 2023 in Central and Eastern Europe, consisting of solar and wind projects, and an additional 500 megawatts by 2026.
CEEIHM: What is your plan for the wind park following the acquisition?
Zorad: We plan to be a long-term owner of the wind park in line with our Green Assets Division growth strategy.
CEEIHM: What was your role in the acquisition?
Zorad: My responsibility was to legally manage the deal throughout the full project cycle. This required strong cooperation with our internal stakeholders from management to the group legal team, members of our internal M&A business team, and also the local Bulgarian legal advisor which was Schoenherr Bulgaria (Stoyanov & Tsekova Law Firm).
CEEIHM: What was Schoenherr’s mandate on the deal and why did you choose them as your advisor?
Zorad: To complete the legal support of the project including the execution of a legal due diligence review, involvement in SPA negotiations, and preparation for closing.
Schoenherr had also advised us on our first Bulgarian wind park acquisition and we were fully satisfied with their services. This law firm has a very strong team in the field of M&A and also in energy law, so it was an ideal choice for our second acquisition.
I would like to specifically mention two individuals. Alexandra Doytchinova and Katerina Kaloyanova – both great M&A lawyers – were in charge and responsible for managing the project team of Schoenherr for the two acquisitions. Tsekova Stefana was excellent in her coordination of the due diligence review in the Suvorovo project, while we could always rely on the advice of Galina Petkova in merger clearance processes and Radoslav Chemshirovin in relation to all energy law matters.
