Global law firm Freshfields has advised a consortium comprising Partners Group (acting on behalf of its clients), CDPQ and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (‘Ontario Teachers’’) on selling Techem to US private equity group TPG and Singapore’s state fund GIC.

The transaction values the company at an enterprise value of around €6.7bn and is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.

Since acquiring Techem in 2018, the consortium has overseen a period of strong growth at the company, with revenues reaching over €1bn and EBITDA growing approximately 50%.

Techem is headquartered in Germany and provides energy services, including resource management, residential health and building efficiency, as well as energy contracting services to property managers and owners of multi-tenant residential buildings. The company has over 425,000 customers in 18 countries and serves more than 13 million households.

Partners Group is one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry with approximately $150bn in assets under management. CDPQ, based in Québec, is a global investment group that primarily manages funds for public pension and insurance plans. Ontario Teachers’, based in Toronto, is a global investor with net assets of $255.8bn (as at June 30 2024) which invests across a broad array of assets and markets to deliver retirement income for 336,000 working and retired teachers in Ontario, Canada.

The Freshfields team was led by Partner Natascha Doll and Principal Associate Friedrich von der Heydt-von Kalckreuth (both Corporate/M&A, Hamburg) and also included:

• Partners: Heiner Braun (Frankfurt), Dirk-Jan Smit (Amsterdam, both Corporate/M&A), Christoph Gleske (Frankfurt), Simone Bono (London/Frankfurt, both Corporate), Frank Schaer (Labour Law, Frankfurt), Tanja Walter-Yadegardjam (Tax, Frankfurt)
• Counsel: Kyle Miller (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Sascha Arnold (Regulatory, Hamburg), Zach Truscott (Corporate/M&A, Amsterdam)
• Principal Associates: Lorenz Koffka, Tobias Dreßler, Maximilian Kind (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Maximilian Hobuß (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Mark Maarschalkerweerd (Corporate/M&A, Amsterdam), Daniel von Bülow (Corporate), Fabian Zöpfchen (Labour Law, both Frankfurt), Christian Schmidt (Tax, Frankfurt)
• Associates: Yannick Griesbach, Simon Wizemann (both Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Jens-Ole Steiner (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), John Haviland (Corporate, Frankfurt), Felicitas Weber (Regulatory, Berlin)

The transaction was internally legally advised by Jolyon Smith and Katariina Koivisto (both Partners Group), Anna Cross (CDPQ) and Robert Goldsmith (Ontario Teachers’).

Freshfields also comprehensively advised the consortium on its acquisition of Techem in 2018.