On completion, SIMEC will receive new Atlantis ordinary shares representing 49.99 per cent of the share capital of Atlantis. SIMEC, is the owner of a mothballed power plant in South Wales, and following completion of the transaction it is intended that 220 MW of capacity at the plant will be converted to use an end-of-waste energy pellet as fuel. When it enters commercial operations, which is expected to be in 2020, the converted plant will sell all its power under two 20 year power purchase agreements to GFG Alliance companies, and will receive fuel under a proposed 20 year fuel supply agreement with a joint venture company to be partly owned by a Liberty House Group company and partly owned by Dutch recycling group N+P Group BV.
The GFG Alliance founded by the British Gupta family comprises energy generation, metal manufacturing, engineering, natural resources and financial services with revenues of approximately US$10 billion and nearly 11,500 employees across more than 30 countries.
The transaction is anticipated to be the first of a number of acquisitions from the GFG Alliance that will transform Atlantis into a diversified renewable energy company of scale owning high quality development and generating assets across the sustainable energy spectrum, supplementing its existing portfolio of assets.
The acquisition constitutes a reverse takeover of Atlantis under the AIM Rules and is conditional on shareholder approval, which is expected to be sought in the first quarter of 2018.
The Ashurst team was led by client relationship partner Michael Robins alongside corporate partner Nick Bryans, supported by partners Anthony Johnson and Nick Gardner, and assisted by senior associates Aaron Shute and Peter Grayson, and associates James Powell, Adam Eskdale, William Barrow and Michelle Davenport. Counsel John Gordon and senior associate Liz Ramsaran advised on pensions matters, with senior associate Sean Coyne and associates Hannah Martin and Sarah-Beth Neville advising on employment aspects of the transaction. Real estate advice was provided by counsel Eleanor Reeves and Jonathan Hoare, consultant Keith Davidson, senior associates Charlie Reid and David Razzell, and associates Joanna Fox, Victoria Stagg and Emily Ludlow-Eyre. Disputes associates Wei Wei Wang and Louise Youngman also advised.
