White & Case advises bank consortium on €1.6 billion financing for Germany’s largest repowering fund

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised a consortium of leading international lenders, including CIBC, ING Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank, SMBC, SEB and UniCredit, on the complex financing structure of up to €1.6 billion for CEE RF9, Germany's largest repowering fund.

The financing structure for CEE RF9 is unique for alternative investment funds which belongs to CEE Group, an asset manager specialized in renewable energies and part of the Canadian Brookfield Asset Management Group. The financing supports a diverse portfolio of 45 wind and solar projects located across Germany and France. In addition to providing lending capacity, ING acted as Original Issuing Bank, while UniCredit served as Facility and Security Agent, Hedge Coordinator and Account Bank.

CEE RF9 will repower at least 29 projects with state-of-the-art wind turbines and photovoltaic modules. As a result, the installed capacity of the overall portfolio will increase from the current 457 MW(p) to approximately 1.1 GW(p), which corresponds to an expansion of more than 140%.

This transaction marks a milestone in the German renewables market, as it enables the consolidation of investment fund financing at the portfolio level for the first time and does not require additional equity from existing investors. The cashflows generated by operating assets serve as a substitute for equity and set new standards for institutional renewable energy investments.

"This landmark transaction demonstrates the continued appetite of international lenders to support innovative renewable energy solutions in Europe, having advised on this unique portfolio financing structure to accelerate the expansion and repowering strategy of renewable energy projects will make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of the energy sector and the achievement of climate goals" said White & Case partner Florian Degenhardt who led the Firm's deal team.

CEE RF9 was launched at the turn of 2024/2025 as the latest generation of the successful "CEE Renewables Fund/RF" product series. The fund transferred existing portfolios consisting of 45 European PV and onshore wind assets from previous CEE RF funds to the new platform, with the aim of extensive repowering by 2030.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by partner Florian Degenhardt and included local partners Matthias Grigoleit and Roland Arlt, counsel Beate Treibmann and associates Martin Riederer, Dana Masberg, Robert Bente and Sarah Bischoff and transaction lawyer Ioana Marinescu (all Hamburg), with support from partner Guilhem Becvort, local partner Ruslana Hrischeva, associates Sophia Fotso and Ignacio Martinez (all Luxembourg) and Maxim Arrazola de Onate (Brussels & Luxembourg), partner Amaury de Feydeau and associates Tsveta Pencheva and Sarah Pupin (all Paris), and partner Anthony Colegrave and associate Celine Ng (both London).

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