Infrastructure

We have advised Eviny and SFE on the sale of Enivest, one of the leading fiber operators in Western Norway, to Telenor. 

Enivest operates a fiber network serving approximately 28,000 customers across Western Norway, and holds a 34% ownership stake in Årdalsnett, which has approximately 3,000 customers. The company has approximately 50 employees, with its headquarters in Førde and offices in Sogndal, Florø, Stryn and Sunnhordland. Founded in 2001, Enivest has grown to become one of the largest fiber communications providers in the region. 

Eviny holds 55.8% and SFE holds 40.3% of the shares in Enivest. Our team advised on all aspects of the transaction.

We assisted Luxcara with their divestment of the Bjerkreim wind farm cluster to Eviny.

The cluster comprises three interconnected wind farms Eikeland–Steinsland/Bjerkreim, Gravdal and Skinansfjellet, located in Bjerkreim and Hå municipalities in Rogaland, in price area NO2. The cluster has been in operation since 2020, has a total installed capacity of 301 MW across 70 turbines, and produces approximately 1 TWh annually.

The transaction is subject to completion, including regulatory approvals from the Norwegian Competition Authority.

Wikborg Rein has advised DWS Group on the acquisition of key Norwegian travel infrastructure assets, including Fjellheisen in Tromsø, Romsdalsgondolen, the Golden Train in Åndalsnes, and the Arctic Train in Narvik.

DWS Group is one of the world's leading asset managers, with EUR 1,054bn in total assets under management, and this is the company's first ever investment in Norway.

A European infrastructure fund managed by DWS has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of the companies holding the main infrastructure assets of Norwegian Travel from Longship. The assets include "Fjellheisen" in Tromsø, "Romsdalsgondolen", the Golden Train in Åndalsnes and the Arctic Train in Narvik.

We assisted Hafslund, Susi and Eviny in connection with Elaway's merger with Elaway 

Elaway currently operates in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. Through the merger, the new company will have over 100 employees and a strong foundation for further growth in the Nordic region. Aneo will own 56.5 percent of the merged company, while Elaway's current owners will hold 43.5 percent.

We have had the pleasure of supporting the Aker group in a transaction where Aker invests another USD 350 million in cash into Nscale – a global hyperscaler engineered for enterprise-grade AI infrastructure – and rolls up its 50% stake in the parties' Narvik data centre JV.

A number of follow-on investors, including NVIDIA and Nokia, will invest another USD 1,650 million, taking total proceeds to USD 2 billion, making this the ever largest capital raise in Europe.

As part of the transaction, Aker will roll-up its 50% ownership stake in the data centre JV for additional shares in Nscale. Aker's total ownership in Nscale following these transactions will be ~24%.

The series of transactions imply a post-money valuation of Nscale of USD 14.6 billion. Aker's ~24% shareholding is valued at > USD 3.5 billion.

Following the announcement over Oslo Børs, Aker's market cap went >NOK 80 billion, a clear all-time high for Aker. 

Telenor Norge AS has agreed to acquire GlobalConnect AS' consumer business in Norway.

We are pleased to have advised Telenor on its acquisition of the consumer business in Norway, valued at NOK 6 billion. The business includes around 140,000 customers and fibre infrastructure, and strengthens Telenor's position in the fragmented Norwegian fibre market, in line with Telenor's strategy to grow its fibre footprint and improve its operational scale. 

The transaction is subject to clearance from the Norwegian Competition Authority.

Wikborg Rein's Competition Law team has assisted Vygruppen AS (Vy) in obtaining an unconditional phase II merger clearance for the merger between Vy and Flytoget AS.

Even though Vy and Flytoget are the only two players offering passenger rail transport services to and from Oslo Airport, the Norwegian Competition Authority concluded that the merger did not restrict competition. After months of looking into the matter, the Norwegian Competition Authority accepted the parties' arguments that obligations in the companies' public service obligation contracts limit the parties' ability to adapt freely in the market. Fair to say that this has not been a popular merger amongst Norwegian consumers (given Flytoget's excellent reputation), but Norwegian politicians have decided that Flytoget's franchise will not be prolonged beyond January 2028, meaning that Flytoget would have ceased to exist irrespective of the transaction.

Vy and Flytoget are both 100 percent owned by the Norwegian state. Vy argued that the merger did not constitute a concentration within the meaning of section 17 of the Norwegian Competition Act and that the Competition Authority did not have jurisdiction over the matter. Unfortunately, the Norwegian Competition Authority did not conclude on this question, missing the opportunity to provide much-needed guidance on merger control involving state-owned companies.

Together with Gibson Dunn as lead counsel, we are pleased to have assisted Morgan Stanley Investment Management's 1GT fund in their role as lead investor in the MUSD 60 series E equity issue in Corvus Energy. 1GT led an investor consortium that includes Just Climate and J. Lauritzen.

Headquartered in Bergen, Corvus Energy is the leading supplier of zero-emission battery solutions for maritime, offshore and port applications. Corvus Energy offers a full portfolio of energy storage and fuel cell systems, suitable for almost every vessel type, providing power systems in the form of modular lithium-ion battery systems and Hydrogen PEM fuel cell systems. Corvus Energy has unsurpassed experience from more than 1,300 projects. More than 50% of the world's vessels with zero-emission technology are equipped with Corvus' systems.

Morgan Stanley Climate Private Equity manages 1GT, a strategy that invests in growth companies delivering innovative climate solutions that meaningfully decarbonise the global economy. The strategy is focused on scaling opportunities in the Power, Mobility, Food & Agriculture, and Circularity themes across North America and Europe, with an emphasis on driving significant organic growth by leveraging the global breadth of Morgan Stanley capabilities.

We have assisted Infranode AB and Lyse Fiberinvest AS with entering into an agreement to acquire Altifiber AS, a local fiber infrastructure provider present in Dalane and Agder, Norway. Subject to completion, Infranode will acquire 49% of the shares. The remaining 51% of shares will be owned by Lyse, which is increasing its ownership by 17p.p.

Infranode AB is a Swedish long-term infrastructure investor, with a particular focus on the Nordic countries. Infranode invests in energy and renewables, digital infrastructure, transport, and social infrastructure. Infranode has offices in Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Oslo, and a strong infrastructure investment team with extensive local and international experience. 

Lyse is a Norwegian energy and telecom company. Lyse builds, maintains and upgrades critical infrastructure and delivers broadband and entertainment services through their national Altibox partnership. Their telecom services are delivered through their national brands: Altibox, Ice and NiceMobil.

The acquisition marks another transaction for Infranode and Lyse this year. It also aligns with the trend of increased interest in Norwegian infrastructure, and is our fourth broadband transaction this year. 

Lyse and Infranode have entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Sandefjord Bredbånd for an enterprise value of NOK 1,012 million. Lyse will acquire 10% of the shares and Infranode 90%. The seller is Sandefjord Municipality.

We have assisted Ren Røros AS with entering into a definitive agreement to divest Ren Røros Aksess AS to NEAS Konsern AS. Subject to completion, NEAS Konsern AS will acquire 100% of the shares.

Ren Røros AS is the municipally owned regional utility active within electricity, grid, electricity services, data and IT-consultancy. NEAS Konsern AS is the municipally owned regional utility in the Nordmøre region.

We have assisted Hafslund, Telenor, HitecVision and Analysys Mason in connection with a new joint venture (Skygard) to develop co-location data centres that emphasise security and sustainability in Norway.

Advised DIF, EDF and KLP in their acquisition of Fjord1 AS, Norway's largest ferry operator.

Advised Telenor ASA in their demerger and sale of 30% of their passive infrastructure fibre company, Telenor Fiber AS. 

The agreed sales price represents an enterprise value for the Norwegian fibre business of NOK 36.1 billion, resulting in proceeds of approximately NOK 10.8 billion to Telenor. The business generated a proforma EBITDA of NOK 1.7 billion in 2021.