Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”), working closely with bpv BRAUN PARTNERS, advised UCED, the energy division of Creditas Group, on its acquisition of Slovak energy and heat producer and distributor GGE a.s. (“GGE”) from Infracapital.
GGE has a portfolio comprising 213 MW heat and 70+MW electricity networks, including the Považská Bystrica steam-gas heating plant, making it one of the leading energy groups in Slovakia. It also has over 90km of heat distribution systems in Slovakia and is committed to building and interconnecting further local distributions networks.
CREDITAS has been active in the energy sector since 2013 and its energy division is the fourth largest energy distributor in the Czech Republic. It primarily targets ownership interests in companies engaged in the production, distribution and trading of electricity, gas and heat. UCED, whose distribution systems supply energy to 7,000+ regular customers, aims to become a leader in decentralised energy in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other Central and Eastern European countries.
The WFW London team that advised UCED was led by Partner Daisy East working closely with Counsel Nerina Erasmus. Partner Mark Tooke, Associate George Robinson and Trainee Jack Forber provided support on the corporate aspects of the transaction and Senior Associate Gavin Jackson provided support on the project finance aspects of the transaction.
Daisy commented: “We are pleased to have advised UCED on another successful M&A transaction, the acquisition of GGE. This deal further highlights our multi-disciplinary expertise in sector, including on major corporate energy acquisitions”.
