Biggest deals of 2015 in Romania | Energy

Here are the main deals in the energy sector that were registered last year. For a forecast regarding the M&A market this year, you can read this exclusive article.

Transaction: Pfisterer Holding AG acquired 100% of the shares issued by Lapp Insulators Holding GmbH

Value of transaction: N/A.

Legal team buyer: Wolf Theiss

Legal team seller: N/A

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Description: Pfisterer Holding AG bought 100 percent of the shares issued by Lapp Insulators Holding GmbHm, in a deal involving Romanian and Polish entities. Lapp Insulators Holding GmbH is the third-largest supplier of high voltage insulators in the world. The transaction was closed on October 2^nd 2015.

Transaction: Petroceltic purchases equity in two Black Sea exploration blocks

Value of transaction: N/A

Legal team buyer: Dentons

Legal team seller: N/A

Description: Petroceltic has purchased equity in two offshore blocks (40 percent in EX-27 Muridava Block, previously held by a subsidiary of Sterling Resources and 30 percent in the EX-28 Est Cobalcescu Block, previously held by a subsidiary of Beach Energy), in the Romanian sector of the Black Sea. Petroceltic has also transferred its subsidiary, Petroceltic Romania to GVC Investment, a private limited company, which is involved in the oil&gas sector in the Black Sea area.   

Transaction: Zentraleuropa LPG Holding GmbH buys Flaga LPG S.A.

Value of transaction: N/A

Legal team buyer: RTPR Allen & Overy

Description: Zentraleuropa LPG Holding GmbH has acquired the shares held by some of the minority shareholders in Flaga LPG S.A. (an LPG distribution company). In Romania, Flaga has two liquified petrol gas deposits.

Transaction: MVM purchases a hydroelectric power plant in Romania

Value of transaction: approximately EUR 30 million

Legal team buyer: Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații

Legal team seller: Schoenherr GmbH

Description: State-owned Hungarian Electricity Works (MVM) has purchased a 7.48MW hydroelectric power plant in Romania, respectively it bought a 90 percent stake in the plant from its main shareholders, Winsland Holdings Ltd. and Hydroenergy ZRT.

Transaction: The complex separation of LUKERG Renew, a 50-50 joint venture between ERG Renew and LUKOIL created in 2011 with a view to invest in the wind sector in Bulgaria and Romania.

Value of transaction: EUR 27 million

Legal team buyer: Wolf Theiss (for listed Italian energy company ERG and Russian oil major LUKOIL)

Legal team seller: Wolf Theiss (for LUKERG Renew, part of Lukoil)

Description: ERG Renew and Lukoil moved to close their joint venture. The transaction’s enterprise value amounts to approximately 27 million Euro, mainly represented by non-recourse project financing. However, only in Romania, one of the two wind farms owned by the joint venture was purchased with a price in excess of EUR 100 million, two years ago. The two companies controlled wind farms with total installed capacity of 208MW in Romania and Bulgaria. The transaction was signed on June 25th 2015.

Transaction: Sterling Resources Ltd sells its Romanian business to CIEP

Value of transaction: USD 42.5 million

Legal team buyer: Herbert Smith Freehills, Pachiu & Asociatii

Legal team seller: Burness Paul, Musat & Asociatii

Description: Canada-based energy company Sterling Resources Ltd. sold its entire Romanian business to Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), an affiliate of the global investment corporation, The Carlyle Group. The sale includes license blocks 13 Pelican and 15 Midia, 25 Luceafărul and 27 Muridava (all in the Romanian Black Sea), being structured as a corporate sale of Sterling’s wholly-owned Romanian subsidiary Midia Resources S.R.L.

Transaction: General Electric (GE) buys the power and grid businesses of Alstom

Value of transaction: EUR 12.3 billion, as follows: EUR 9.9 billion – enterprise value and EUR 2.5 billion – net cash

Legal team buyer: Slaughter and May (corporate – international) and Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii (corporate – Romania); Bredin Prat (corporate); Skadden Arps (competition); Arnold Porter (competition); Clifford Chance (antitrust), acting for General Electric (GE).

Legal team seller: Weil Gotshal (corporate); Hogan Lovells (competition); Cabinet Bompoint (competition); Shearman & Sterling (tax); Peli Filip (Romania), acting for Alstom

Description: GE reached an agreement with Alstom to purchase Alstom’s power and grid businesses. The takeover process was accelerated over the last months of the year so as to take place simultaneously on all the EU markets and in jurisdictions such as Brazil, India or South Africa. In Romania, the transaction involved the takeover of Alstom’s shares in Alstom General Turbo SA and Alstom Grid Romania SRL by GE. Alstom’s shares were transferred on November 2^nd 2015, with post-closing procedures to be completed in the near future.

Transaction: Subsidiary of United Communications Group takes over NAVX   

Value of transaction: N/A 

Legal team buyer: Noerr  

Legal team seller: N/A

Description: Opis, a subsidiary of United Communications Group, which provides oil industry pricing, news, analysis and software, took over NAVX, an independent, privately-held company with its HQ in Paris and its content factory in Bucharest.