RTPR advises Macquarie Asset Management on c. EUR 700 million Romanian electricity distribution deal

RTPR has assisted the funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) in relation to the sale of Evyro Group to Premier Energy Group.Premier Energy Group is a vertically integrated energy and power infrastructure company, with generation, distribution and supply operations across Romania, Moldova and Hungary, listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The transaction remains subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of the year. 

Evryo Group is the owner of Distributie Energie Oltenia (DEO), a regulated electricity distribution network in Romania, which covers seven counties in the south western region of the country. The network, with a length of approximately 80,000 kilometres, provides services to about 1.5 million customers.

RTPR has advised Macquarie Asset Management on its transactions in Romania since 2020 from the initial acquisition of the CEZ assets in Romania through to the final exit. These transactions were coordinated at firm level by Costin Taracila, Managing Partner. 

The team of lawyers who assisted on this mandate was coordinated by Roxana Ionescu (Partner), closely assisted by Cezara Urzica (Counsel) and Andrei Nicolae (Associate), and further included Bogdan Cordos (Partner), Andrei Tosa (Senior Associate), and Iulia Calin (Junior Associate).

“We are honoured to have supported Macquarie Asset Management and the Evryo Group in this landmark transaction. The complexity of the project stemmed not only from its financial scale, but in particular from the strategic importance of the asset: Distributie Energie Oltenia represents a cornerstone of the energy infrastructure in south western Romania. We are grateful to the exceptional teams of Macquarie Asset Management and Evryo Group for the excellent collaboration throughout this complex and equally rewarding transaction,” said Roxana Ionescu, Partner at RTPR.

“Congratulations and thanks to the Macquarie Asset Management and Evryo Group teams for the success of this transaction. We are privileged to have had the opportunity to contribute to a transaction of such calibre for the energy sector in Romania,” said Cezara Urzica, Counsel at RTPR.

In 2021, RTPR assisted Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) on its investment in the Evryo Group through the acquisition of the ČEZ Group’s portfolio in Romania, a transaction that was, at that time, the largest M&A transaction completed on the Romanian market in the previous 12 years. RTPR subsequently continued to advise MAM on the divestment of the Romanian portfolio, a process initiated in 2023 with the sale of CEZ Vanzare to Premier Energy PLC, followed in 2024 by the sale of the renewables portfolio to PPC Group.

“This transaction represents the completion of a full investment cycle for Macquarie Asset Management on this portfolio, during which RTPR has had the privilege to act as trusted legal adviser from entry to exit,” said Costin Taracila, Managing Partner at RTPR.

RTPR’s performance in managing some of the most complex transactions in Romania and across the region is consistently recognised by leading international legal directories. The recently published edition of the Legal 500 places the law firm in Tier 1 for both practice areas relevant to this mandate: Commercial, Corporate & M&A and Energy and Natural Resources. The law firm enjoys the same exceptional recognition in the Chambers & Partners and IFLR1000 rankings, while the individual excellence of the team members is validated through numerous Leading Lawyers or Rising Stars distinctions.

Selected energy deals advised by RTPR include:

-        Repono AB on the acquisition of a battery energy storage system (BESS) with a capacity of 202 MW/404 MWh, located in Arges County

-        OX2 on the sale of a 96 MW onshore wind project located in Galati County

-        Evryo Group, owned by funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management, on the sale of its renewable energy portfolio to PPC Group

-        OX2 on the sale of a 99.2 MW onshore wind project located in eastern Romania to Nala Renewables, a joint venture between IFM Investors and Trafigura

-        ENGIE Romania on the acquisition of an operational wind farm with a capacity of 80 MW located in Chirnogeni, Constanta County

-        Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) on the sale of CEZ Vanzare, the main electricity supplier in south western Romania, to Premier Energy PLC

-        Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) on the acquisition of a portfolio of power assets owned by the ČEZ Group in Romania, at the time the largest M&A transaction completed on the Romanian market in the previous 12 years

-        The syndicate of banks led by Banca Transilvania and BCR, together with Raiffeisen Bank, BRD – Groupe Société Générale, CEC Bank, ING Bank and Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Romania, on a RON 3.1 bn syndicated loan granted to Electrica

-        Distributie Energie Oltenia (DEO) on a large scale syndicated green loan of RON 1.76 bn, intended to finance the company’s investment programme over the next seven years