King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised leading Australian energy infrastructure business, APA Group (APA) on its $1.7 billion acquisition of Alinta Energy’s Pilbara business. This business, located in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, is underpinned by contracted operational assets (gas and solar power generation, gas transmission, battery energy storage systems and electricity transmission), together with an extensive development pipeline of projects.
Alinta Energy Pilbara comprises a 543-megawatt portfolio of assets focused on three main generation assets along with the Goldfields Gas Transmission pipeline which can transport 203 terajoules of gas per day. These assets will provide APA with a new growth platform to operate remote-grid energy solutions for the resources industry in Australia. This asset will build on APA’s already well developed and operational capability in Western Australia.
The acquisition also carves a path to capitalise on the increasing need for affordable, reliable, and lower-emissions energy as the resources sector continues to decarbonise.
Commenting on the deal, Managing Partner, Craig Rogers said:
“It was a pleasure to work with APA Group on this important transaction for the energy sector. We realise that the acquisition of Alinta Energy’s Pilbara energy infrastructure business delivers APA with an exciting expansion of its current portfolio but also provides APA with a growth platform in the energy sector.
We look forward to working with APA in the development of this asset and its business generally. Partnering with businesses like APA is a key tenet of KWM’s strategy to partner with market leading clients making real advances in energy infrastructure development and Australia’s energy transition solutions.”
The acquisition was partly funded through a $750m capital raising comprising a fully underwritten ‘pro-rata’ institutional placement and a non-underwritten security purchase plan. KWM also supported APA with this capital raising.
The KWM team acting as legal counsel was led by Managing Partner and APA relationship partner, Craig Rogers and Special Counsel Gareth Howe, with support from Partners, Mandy Tsang, Luke Woodward and Vishal Ahuja (Competition and Regulatory), and Jack Hill and Will Heath (Capital Raising). With further support from Jessica Waters, Adam Black, Richard Hanson, Peeta Hutson, Laura Bernhardt, Simeon Flanagan, Rouzbeh Ansari, Chase Martin, James Atcheson and Emily Wilson.
