German team advises banking consortium on financing of the "Deutschlandnetz" fast-charging infrastructure for electric vehicles

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised a banking consortium consisting of Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), KfW IPEX-Bank and Siemens Financial Services via Siemens Bank on the financing of 850 charging points for HOCHTIEF and EWE Go as part of the expansion of the “Deutschlandnetz”. The financing volume amounts to around 130 million euros.

With the "Deutschlandnetz", the German government wants to ensure a nationwide high-power charging (HPC) fast-charging infrastructure for electric vehicles at more than 1,000 locations with around 9,000 charging points in Germany. The aim is to ensure that the nearest fast-charging point can be reached anywhere in Germany within a few minutes. The project was put out to tender by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), with a joint venture between HOCHTIEF and EWE Go being awarded the contract for two lots in six federal states with a total of 850 charging points.

A team of Norton Rose Fulbright led by Munich-based partner Dirk Trautmann advised the banking consortium on the financing. "Signing this new type of financing in just nine weeks after the contract was awarded was an exciting challenge in our sweet spot between energy and infrastructure. The deal also marks another milestone in our portfolio of recent successful EV charging transactions such as Numbat and JOLT this year," commented Trautmann, who is also Head of Infrastructure Europe at Norton Rose Fulbright.
     
In addition to Trautmann, Associates Matthias Zimmermann, Oliver Henningsmeier and Sebastian Jeschke (all Banking/Projects, Munich) advised on the transaction.