Deal: Hydro Tasmania’s sell down of a 75 per cent ownership interest in the Woolnorth Studland Bay and Woolnorth Bluff Point Wind Farms, located in north-west Tasmania, to Shenhua Clean Energy Holdings Pty Ltd (SCEH)

Area: Energy and resources

Value: $88.6 million (equity)

Key players: The NRA team, based in Melbourne, was led by partner Richard Lewis together with partner Robert Sultan, special counsel Vivi Renner and associate Chris Mitchell. The financing side of the transaction was led by partners Gillad Dalal and Andrew Bretherton, together with senior associate Adele Gray

Deal significance: SCEH is 75 per cent owned by Chinese renewable energy investment company Guohua Energy Investment Corporation (GEIC) and 25 per cent owned by GEIC’s Hong Kong sister company, Shenhua Hong Kong Limited. The transaction was conducted by Hydro Tasmania as a competitive trade sale, with the core transaction document signed on 22 December 2011 and equity and financial completion occurring on 27 February 2012.
The transaction included restructuring and refinancing of the wind farms' existing syndicated debt facilities. “Both the sale process and the refinancing were achieved within tight timeframes and required strong coordinated effort between ourselves, Hydro Tasmania, ANZ Project Advisory and Deloitte,” said Lewis.

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