Stephens Scown Advises Mongoose Energy on The Acquisition of Three Solar Farm Sites

A leading South West law firm has advised on the acquisition of three large scale solar sites by Mongoose Energy. The Renewables team at Stephens Scown LLP acted for Mongoose Energy, a spin off of Bath & West Community Energy, in its acquisition of the sites from Anesco Ltd, adding to its existing portfolio of community solar projects in the UK.

Mongoose Energy is looking to accelerate the development of its pipeline of renewables projects across the UK as part of its long-term commitment to the UK’s renewables industry and community energy.

Mongoose Energy is a private limited company majority owned by the community groups that it works for.  Mongoose facilitates the purchasing, development and ongoing management of ground mount solar sites of up to 5MW.  The sites are owned by local communities and the profits from the sites are ploughed back into the local community in close proximity to the project.

A wide-ranging team at Stephens Scown advised Mongoose Energy, led by partner and head of renewables Sonya Bedford, with the corporate elements provided by associate David Culshaw, with assistance from solicitors Justin Butt, Hanna Virta, Peter Cooper and Sarah-Jane Williams.

Close Leasing Limited, represented by CMS Cameron McKenna, provided the debt finance to Mongoose Energy for the project.

Sonya Bedford of Stephens Scown commented: “These acquisitions mark an exciting development for Mongoose Energy despite the period of adversity within the wider UK renewables industry. The deals were complex due to the number of sites involved, which were split between a commercial developer project and a community project, sharing the same grid connection and planning consent. That, coupled with the tight timescales involved in order to obtain the finance from Close Leasing Limited, made for a very challenging project. But working closely with our client and a number of third parties, we were able to support every step of the way – from preparing certificates of title and answering due diligence queries on all sites, to advising on the issues surrounding shared planning, shared grid connection and finance for the projects.”

Mongoose Energy is very active in the UK renewable energy market and continues to seek further opportunities with community groups including through its recently licensed electricity supply arm.