GE Ventures AG announces successful acquisition of 26% share in 400 MW Global Tech I Offshore Wind Farm in Germany

Ruggell, 15.11.2022 – GE Ventures AG today announces that it has successfully acquired a 26% share in Global Tech I Offshore Wind GmbH based in Hamburg. Global Tech I is Germany’s 4th largest off-shore wind farm in the North-Sea with a total capacity of 400 MW, built for 1.2B EUR and operating since 2015. 

GE Ventures AG has successfully acquired ca. 26% of the shares of Global Tech I Offshore Wind GmbH in a series of transactions from seven different sellers through two acquisition vehicles. The transaction leads to a consolidation of the ownership structure of the Company, leaving Stadtwerke München, ENTEGA and Axpo International S.A. with the remaining 74% of the share capital in Global Tech I.

Global Tech I Offshore Wind GmbH operates the 400-megawatt North Sea wind farm Global Tech I, whose business and power plant operations are managed from Hamburg. The wind farm was built from for approx. 1.2B EUR and started its operations in 2015. At the company's headquarters in downtown Hamburg, the company runs commercial and technical departments, as well as the control center, which is responsible for general operational monitoring of the wind farm, network management and sea and weather observation. From here, communication takes place with the direct marketers and the transmission system operator. Around 100 people work for Global Tech I Offshore Wind GmbH, with the offshore team consisting of around 30 people. Strong specialist partners are involved in the service and maintenance processes.

Lucid Partners AG, a Swiss-based advisory boutique, is a minority co-investor in the transaction and acted as buy-side financial advisor, arranging the acquisition financing and mandated to manage the participation going forward on behalf of GE Ventures AG , with Daniel Klein, Managing Partner of Lucid Partners, joining the Board of Shareholders of Global Tech I. Acquisition financing for the transaction was provided by Kommunalkredit Austria AG (Kommunalkredit), a specialist for infrastructure and energy financing, and funds managed by Eiffel Investment Group’s infrastructure team in Paris, a key European investor in the energy transition. Squire Patton Boggs acted as the legal advisor for the acquisition financing.

This transaction allows GE Ventures AG to pursue its investment strategy and strengthen its sustainability investment pillar. Beyond the acquisition of Global Tech I, GE Ventures is assessing additional acquisitions in the renewable energy space. Philipp Büchs, Director of the acquisition vehicles and Head Legal at GE Ventures, comments: "We have successfully concluded this acquisition as part of our strategy to grow the share of sustainable investments in our portfolio. Therefore we want to thank the sellers for their professional collaboration in this process. We executed these acquisitions in record time and despite a lot of uncertainty in capital markets, and are thankful to our advisor, Lucid Partners for their execution excellence, as well as our financing partners, Eiffel Investment Group and Kommunalkredit, for their partnership and trust. We are looking forward to working actively with Global Tech I management and our co-shareholders.”

Contact:
⁠GE Ventures AG
⁠Industriering 3
⁠9491 Ruggell
⁠Liechtenstein
⁠contact@ge-ventures.com

About GE Ventures AG
GE Ventures is an investment firm founded in 2020 that invests primarily in continental Europe. They focus on companies with the potential to create sustainable, long-term value through changing economic cycles and work closely with Management to achieve that. GE Ventures is currently invested in over 15 companies, with combined revenus over EUR +300mio and over 550 employees.

GE Ventures is part of the family-owned Globaleye Group, which actively manages more than EUR 1.7bn in assets and has representations in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

More at www.ge-ventures.com & www.globaleye.capital

About Global Tech I Offshore-Wind GmbH
⁠Global Tech I is one of the first far offshore wind farms in the German North Sea. The power plant with a total of 80 wind turbines with a capacity of 5 MW was commissioned in July 2015. With an annual environmentally friendly energy production of 1.4 billion kilowatt hours, the plant covers the average electricity consumption of about 450,000 households. The offices in downtown Hamburg are home to the company's headquarters and the wind farm's control center, including grid management and weather monitoring. Global Tech I has around 100 employees, about 30 of whom work in shifts at the manned offshore station at the center of the wind farm.

More at www.globaltechone.de