AG has advised a syndicate of lenders on the project financing arrangements for the sale and acquisition of the offshore transmission assets for the Race Bank wind farm.

The transaction was part of Tender Round 5 of Ofgem's Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) programme and with a transfer value of £472.5m is the largest OFTO transaction by value to date.

The 573MW Race Bank wind farm, which has the capacity to produce enough power for over 500,000 UK homes, was officially opened in June 2018. Race Bank, a joint venture owned by, amongst others, Orsted and Macquarie, sold the transmission assets, comprising of onshore and offshore substations, and export cables, to Diamond Transmission Partners, a consortium comprising HICL Infrastructure and Diamond Transmission Corporation - a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation.

Oliver Carruthers, Lead Partner on the transaction said: 

"We are delighted to have helped the Race Bank OFTO reach a successful close and to be supporting the leading OFTO owner.  Working with Diamond Transmission has put our renewable energy practice at the forefront of this market sector and we are looking forward to closing the forthcoming Galloper and Walney projects with them in the new year."