KPMG Law advises RWE on the sale of Belectric’s European and Israeli business

KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (KPMG Law) advised RWE AG (RWE) on the sale of the European and Israeli business of the Belectric Group to Elevion Group B.V. (Elevion).

RWE is one of the world’s leading players in the field of renewable energies. The energy service provider Elevion, based in the Netherlands, is part of the ČEZ Group, one of the ten largest energy companies in Europe. The sale relates to Belectric Solar & Battery’s subsidiaries, which provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and operations and maintenance (O&M) services as a third-party provider of solar equipment. RWE continues to expand its global solar business. The decision to sell third-party supplier Belectric is in line with RWE’s solar strategy, which sees itself as an asset owner with a clear focus on project development and operation. The construction of solar panels is commissioned. As part of the Elevion Group, Belectric will continue to operate as a developer and service provider in the solar sector.

Founded in 2001, the Belectric Group is one of the world’s leading companies in the design, construction and operation of utility-scale photovoltaic power plants. In total, the Belectric Group has implemented over 400 photovoltaic projects with more than 4 GW of capacity and provides services for 2.2 GW power plants worldwide.

RWE received comprehensive legal advice on this transaction from KPMG Law Partner Dr. Dr. Boris Schilmar (Corporate/M&A; Head of International Business) and Senior Manager Jan Erik Schapmann (Corporate/M&A), who coordinated a multinational team of lawyers in Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Israel. M&A partner Schilmar again cooperated closely with his partner colleague Marc Goldberg, Head of Energy Law at KPMG Law. Goldberg and Schilmar joined forces some time ago to form a task force for energy M&A transactions, offering a congenial dovetailing of the profound energy law expertise of Marc Goldberg, who joined KPMG Law from PwC Legal in 2020, and Schilmar’s experience in cross-border M&A transactions. KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (KPMG) was also commissioned to provide M&A advice as well as financial and tax vendor due diligence.

According to RWE’s corporate presentation, RWE is a leading global utility also in the field of renewable energies. With a comprehensive investment and growth strategy, the company plans to expand its green power generation capacity internationally to 50 gigawatts by 2030. To this end, RWE is investing 50 billion euros gross in this decade. The portfolio is based on offshore and onshore wind, solar, hydrogen, batteries, biomass and gas. The company has operations in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. RWE’s clear goal is to reduce energy consumption to zero by 2040.

Elevion, which is part of the Czech ČEZ Group, has steadily grown into one of the market leaders in mechanical and electrical design technology, according to its corporate presentation in Germany. It currently consists of approximately 54 consolidated companies and employs over 4,100 people at 87 locations in nine countries – in addition to Germany, these include the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and China. Their total sales in 2020 amounted to 608 million euros. Its customers include well-known companies in the aviation, automotive, food, healthcare and technology industries.

In addition to the international transaction experience of the KPMG Law M&A team, the firm’s broad expertise with more than 330 lawyers as well as the seamless cooperation with lawyers of the KPMG Law network in Italy, the UK, France as well as with the cooperation law firm Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co. (FBC) in Israel contributed significantly to the success of the project. KPMG Law has a close-knit global network of 3,000 lawyers in over 85 countries.

Consultant to RWE AG:

KPMG Law:
Dr. Dr. Boris Schilmar
, Partner, Corporate/M&A, Head of International Business, Düsseldorf (lead);

Marc Goldberg

, Partner, Energy Law, Head of Energy, Düsseldorf (lead);

Jan Erik Schapmann

, Senior Manager, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf;

Peter Lamers

, Partner, Public Sector, Essen;

Dr. Martin Trayer

, Partner, Labor Law, Frankfurt am Main,

Dr. Anna Wipper

, Partner, IP, Berlin;

Dr. Gerrit Rixen

, Partner, Antitrust Law, Cologne;

Sebastian Stöhr

, Senior Manager, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf;

Dr. Anna Melikov

, Manager, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf;

Thomas Papasikas

, Manager, Corporate/M&A, Bielefeld;

Dr. Johanna Schrammen

, Senior Manager, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf;

Jacqueline Unkelbach

, Manager, Antitrust Law, Cologne;

Moritz Graf von Stenbock-Fermor

, Manager, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf;

Dirk-Henning Meier

, Senior Manager, Energy Law, Düsseldorf; Johannes Embacher, Senior Associate, Energy Law, Cologne;

Markus Zawalich

, Associate, Corporate/M&A, Bielefeld; Franz Jakob Schipp, Associate, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf, Arijan Shaboviq, Associate, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf; and a 40-strong international team of lawyers from a wide range of companies in KPMG Law’s global legal network.

KPMG (M&A, Financial Due Diligence, Tax Due Diligence): Annette Schmitt, Partner, Deal Advisory, Frankfurt a.M.; Philipp Kemper, Associate Director, Deal Advisory, Frankfurt a.M.; Jörg Ufer, Partner M&A Tax, Düsseldorf; Alexandra Wedler, Manager, M&A Tax, Düsseldorf; Ingo Bick, Partner, Deal Advisory, Düsseldorf; René Titze, Senior Manager, Deal Advisory, Düsseldorf