Deal: Herbert Smith Freehills has advised WestWind Energy on the sale of a 49 per cent interest in its development business (other than the Golden Plains Wind Farm) to Shell. Baker McKenzie  acted for Shell Australia in its acquisition and joint venture. 

Value: Undisclosed

Area: M&A

Key players: The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partner Neena Aynsley and supported by senior associate Madeleine Miller and solicitor Teresa Sun, with project financing support from partner Gerard Pike. 

The Bakers team was led by Raymond Lou, Lance Sacks and Eric Li in Sydney, with assistance from the broader Projects team including Aylin Cunsolo, Tanya Denning, Sarah Merrett, Rachel McNally, Gillian Woon, Sinan Alnajjar, Brett Walker, Macy Jong and others. The Shell Legal team was led by Trent Simon.

Deal significance: WestWind has permitted approximately 2 GW of wind projects and aims to progress a further 3 GW of renewable capacity in the coming years.

WestWind is an established wind farm developer in Australia responsible for the development of Mt Mercer, Lal Lal, Moorabool and Golden Plains wind farms. Partnering with Shell will facilitate the acceleration of the development of WestWest Energy’s existing pipeline projects and its pursuit of new development opportunities. The transaction marks a further and significant investment by Shell in the Australian renewable energy industry and its first move into Australian wind power.

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According to HSF, the deal creates a strategic joint venture between the parties for the potential development of a pipeline of approximately three gigawatts of future Australian renewable energy projects.

Commenting on the deal, HSF said that they were “pleased to support WestWind on the establishment of this important and strategic joint venture for the WestWind business”.

“The energy market is nothing if not increasingly dynamic and it is a pleasure to work with such a lovely team on a transaction that is part of our transition to a lower-carbon power generation future,” the firm said.

Baker McKenzie's lead partner on the transaction, Raymond Lou stated: "The acquisition of 49 per cent of WestWind complements Shell’s earlier investment in Australian solar developer, ESCO Pacific, as a key part of Shell’s strategy to build a diversified and integrated portfolio of low-carbon generation assets. We are delighted to have assisted Shell on this strategic acquisition."