Deutsche Bank supports €556m Gode Wind 1 bond

Deutsche Bank’s Global Transaction Banking division is managing the innovative project bond used by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in the Gode Wind 1 offshore wind farm, located off the German coast.

The bank is acting as project agent, security trustee, paying agent, account bank and registrar for the €556 million, 10-year investment grade bond offering, which was taken up by insurer Talanx, along with other insurance companies and a group of German asset managers.

Its duties will include managing the fixed-rate, deferred drawdown bonds issued through a private investment vehicle. Through its project agent role, the bank will assist GIP with ongoing management of information and decision-making during the construction and operational phase. GIP’s stake acquisition in the offshore project is valued at €780 million.

Deutsche Bank’s EMEA head of corporate trust for the Global Transaction division, Rafe Morton, said the “first of its kind transaction […] could open doors to similar opportunities for our transaction bank to work closely and more widely with sponsors and institutional investors going forward.” He added the deal showed “continued appetite from non-traditional lenders for this asset class”.

Offshore wind is a growing investment opportunity in Europe. Last week, rating agency Standard & Poor gave another German wind project, the $1 billion WindMW generating 288 megawatts (MW), a BBB- with a “stable” outlook for its operations phase debt.

The Gode Wind 1 will be located off Germany’s coast, 33 kilometres northwest of the island of Norderney. The project will include 55 wind turbines generating 330MW, enough energy to power 340,000 homes. Gode Wind 1, combined with sister project Gode Wind 2, will be Germany’s largest offshore wind farm to date.

This article was first published on Low Carbon Energy Investor, Infrastructure Investor's sister publication covering global energy transition markets.