PLMJ assists multinational Axpo in acquisition of 25% of Gold Energy

The law firm PLMJ assisted the Axpo in the initial acquisition by Axpo Iberia of 25% of the company Gold Energy – Empresa Comercializadora de Energia, S.A. from the Dourogas group. The acquisition was concluded at the end of 2015 / beginning of 2016 and it is already seen as the largest end of your transaction in Portugal, in the Portuguese energy sector.

The PLMJ team responsible for this operation was led by Ana Oliveira Rocha, a managing associate in the energy and natural resources team. She was supported by a vast team of lawyers and trainee lawyers from a wide range of practice areas: corporate, European law and competition, banking and finance, regulatory, electricity and gas, employment, insurance, TMT, tax, real estate and intellectual property.

For Ana Oliveira Rocha “this was a complex transnational operation which made it very interesting. It was carried out in three phases over more than one year and involved a truly multidisciplinary team.”  

Gold Energy, the third-largest supplier of natural gas in Portugal in client numbers, was born out of the liberalisation of the Portuguese energy sector in 2008, and it supplies electricity and natural gas in the free market. The multinational Axpo produces and supplies energy in various European markets and was already operating in the Portuguese market selling electricity. According to Gold Energy’s press release, with this operation Axpo intends to increase its presence in the Portuguese market, where it already had a market share of 1.3% in the business client segment.