MUFG has successfully closed the financing of the acquisition of the 50% shareholding in the Hornsea 2 offshore windfarm for a consortium comprising AXA IM Alts and Crédit Agricole Assurances. The project has been developed by Ørsted who will remain in the transaction with a 50% shareholding.
Besides its role as Mandated Lead Arranger and hedge provider, MUFG also acted as Intercreditor Agent, Security, Trustee, Export Credit Agency Agent, sole Letter of Credit Issuing Bank, Account Bank and Documentation Bank.
Hornsea 2 is located approximately 89km off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea. As the world's largest operational offshore wind farm, the Hornsea 2 reached its commercial operations date in August 2022, helping power over 1.4 million UK homes with low-cost, clean and secure renewable energy.
Philip Roberts, Head of Global Corporate and Investment Banking, EMEA at MUFG, commented:
"Hornsea 2 will generate enough electricity to power 1.4 million homes or a city the size of Manchester (UK) and is a key project supporting the UK government's objective of achieving 40 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. At MUFG we are fully committed to supporting our clients on the energy transition journey to a sustainable future as this deal demonstrates.
"The number of roles MUFG undertook on the transaction demonstrates our ability to act as a 'one-stop shop' using our vast experience in the sector."
Sagar Vaish, Principal at Ørsted said:
"The MUFG team took on multiple bank roles including security agent and account bank and brought their experience and sector knowledge as the coordinating documentation bank."
Mark Gilligan, Head of Infrastructure Equity at AXA IM Alts, said:
"Our investment strategy is all about decarbonisation, electrification, and digitalisation. These are central to the energy transition. Hornsea 2 allows us to play an important role in decarbonising and electrifying the United Kingdom.
"This landmark transaction aligns with our aim of acquiring, for our clients, utility-scale low-carbon essential businesses and being a long-term partner of choice for outstanding operators like Ørsted."
Hornsea 2 goes alongside Hornsea 1, for which MUFG acted as financial advisors alongside Citigroup on the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake, acquired by Global Infrastructure Partners. Together, these two wind farms can power 2.5 million homes and make a significant contribution to the UK Government's ambition of having 50 GW offshore wind in operation by 2030.
MUFG aims to provide a cumulative ¥35 trillion in sustainable financing by FY2030 as part of a commitment to achieve net zero emissions in its finance portfolio by 2050 and in its own operations by 2030. The financing of Hornsea 2 is an important step in realising this ambition.
