Freshfields advises Neptun Werft on joint venture for offshore converter platforms

Global law firm Freshfields has advised German shipyard Neptun Werft GmbH & Co. KG on its joint venture with Belgian Smulders Group, an international construction company with extensive experience in the engineering, fabrication, assembly and integration of complex structures and systems for the offshore wind, civil and industrial markets.

Neptun Werft and Smulders have combined their strengths to design and manufacture high voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore converter platforms. The joint venture company Neptun Smulders Offshore Renewables GmbH (NSORe) has been awarded the contract to build a 2 GW platform for the North Sea Connector 2 project implemented by 50Hertz Transmission GmbH.

The project will be delivered by a consortium comprising NSORe and Siemens Energy. NSORe focuses on the offshore wind markets in Europe and the United States. Offshore converter platforms are instrumental in transporting electricity to shore from offshore windfarms and will form an integral part of Europe’s energy transition efforts. Neptun Werft is part of the Meyer Werft Group since 1997.

Freshfields’ advice further covered NSORe’s conclusion of a lease agreement with the German Institute for Federal Real Estate (BImA). The lease agreement for port premises in Rostock-Warnemünde provides NSORe with construction space for converter platforms while granting usage rights to the German Ministry of Defence. The property has strategic relevance for national and NATO deployment operations and may be utilised by German and Allied Armed Forces.

The Freshfields team consisted of:

Lead: Partners Natascha Doll (Hamburg) and Carsten Bork (Frankfurt, both Corporate/M&A)

Partners: Gerrit Beckhaus (Real Estate, Hamburg), Philipp Redeker (Tax, Düsseldorf/Munich), Frank Laudenklos (Finance, Frankfurt), Ilka Oberländer (Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Jan-Philip Wilde (Finance, Hamburg)

Principal Associates: Panagiota Kavvada (Corporate/M&A), Gianna-Maria Jungblut (Real Estate, both Hamburg), Sören Lehmann (Tax, Düsseldorf), Hannes Butz (Finance, Frankfurt)

Associates: Steffen Blume (Corporate/M&A), Eike Jani (Real Estate, both Hamburg), Torben Gerhards (Tax, Düsseldorf), Oliver Neuer (Procurement Law, Hamburg), Marleen Böhm (Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Vinia Stach (Finance, Hamburg)

Inhouse Meyer Werft: Oscar Ortega Ermisch (Vice President Legal) and Marko Thies (Legal Counsel)