Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Banco Santander, MUFG Bank and Natixis, acting as lenders on a €175m green loan granted to Grenergy Renovables for the construction of a 300 MW portfolio of Spanish photovoltaic plants.
Santander is one of the world’s largest banks by number of customers, with a significant presence in key markets across Europe, North America and South America. It has made great progress towards achieving its responsible banking goals, including providing €220m in green finance between 2019 to 2030.
MUFG Bank, formerly Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ in Spain, is leading Japanese bank with a centuries’ old pedigree and one of the largest financial institutions worldwide for AUM.
Natixis is a French multinational financial services company specialising in asset and wealth management, as well as corporate and investment banking.
Grenergy Renovables is a global independent power producer (IPP) that designs, develops and implements large-scale renewable energy projects.
The WFW Madrid Finance team that advised the lenders was led by Partner Rodrigo Berasategui, working closely with Senior Associate Juan Vicente Barquilla and Associates Antón Ramil, Álvaro del Real and Arancha Ruesta. They were supported on regulatory matters by Partner David Díez, Senior Associate Ignacio Soria and Associates María Vela, Miguel Rubio and Carlota Díaz.
Rodrigo commented: “We are grateful to Banco Santander, MUFG Bank and Natixis for instructing us once again, this time on a challenging green financing granted to Grenergy Renovables, whom we have advised on all their previous renewable project financings in Spain to date. This financing required a tailor-made legal and regulatory structure to ensure the successful ring-fencing of the projects involved. The fact that key players in the Spanish renewable energy market relied on us for such advice underlines WFW’s position as a leading firm for sustainable financing in sector, both in Spain and globally”.
