Dentons advised PKO Bank Polski on a financing granted to VSB Group for the construction of an onshore Baranów–Rychtal wind farm in southern Poland, with a total capacity of 42.6 MW. Construction of the project – consisting of 11 wind turbines – started in November 2021. The turbines are scheduled to go online in 2023.
Dentons’ legal advice involved comprehensive support to the lender in preparing, negotiating and executing the finance documents, as well as carrying out the legal due diligence. The transaction documents were governed by Polish law and included a hedging agreement.
The project was supervised by partner Mateusz Toczyski, Co-Head of Dentons’ Global Banking and Finance practice, and led by managing counsel Tomasz Zwoliński, who was supported by senior associate Marcin Gruszka and associate Wiktor Zień from the Banking and Finance team in Warsaw. Lawyers from the Energy and Natural Resources team, supervised by partners Agnieszka Kulińska and Christian Schnell, were responsible for the energy law related aspects.
“Providing support to PKO Bank Polski is always a great pleasure and privilege, especially when we have an opportunity to advise on a renewable energy project, which perfectly combines with our ESG and sustainability goals”, said Mateusz Toczyski.
“We are delighted to have advised on the transaction. Structuring and securing a transaction of this kind and nature is our way to support doing business in a more sustainable way”, added Tomasz Zwoliński.
PKO Bank Polski is Poland’s largest bank; the value of its assets amounts to PLN 403.5 billion. In the first three quarters of 2021, it generated almost PLN 3.7 billion of net profit. The bank services 11 million retail clients.
VSB, headquartered in Dresden, is one of the leading full-service providers in the field of renewable energies. The group plans and builds wind farms and photovoltaic parks at 22 locations in Europe and Asia. Since 1996, VSB has commissioned more than 700 wind energy and photovoltaic plants with a combined installed capacity of approximately 1.1 GW and an investment volume of €1.7 billion.
