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Web address: http://www.ffw.com/feature/green-business-group.aspx

Practices

The Green Business Group

We are a full-service European law firm with over 146 partners and more than 700 personnel in total in offices in Brussels, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, London, Manchester, Munich and Paris.

Our international reach and reputation attracts clients throughout Europe, Asia and the US from all industry sectors, ranging from substantial multinational companies to dynamic, early-stage businesses and start up companies. We advise clients across the full range of legal issues.

The Green Business Group is one of the leading European law firm practices focussing on: assisting clients building businesses in the Green and sustainable sector; making the most of Green commercial opportunities; and dealing with Green regulation. Our Green Business Group is at the forefront of Green legal developments.

Our collective knowledge and experience includes:

  
Contacts
David Naylor   

David Naylor
Partner
t. +44 (0)20 7861 4150 
Antony Phillips   

Antony Phillips
Partner
t. +44 (0)20 7861 4606
  • protection and commercial exploitation of clean technology and intellectual property
  • venture capital and investments in Green businesses
  • legal compliance with Green IT standards
  • sustainable procurement
  • low carbon energy production projects
  • emissions trading and carbon credits
  • regulatory compliance, prosecution and defence
  • Green property matters, including Green leases
  • Green planning and environmental legislation
  • Green taxation 
  
Download The Green Business
Group brochure

Green Business Group

We act for three of the top 50 individuals recently tipped by The Guardian as those most likely to save the planet.

We are a member of the leading renewable energy trade association in the UK, the British Wind Energy Association, which is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries.

"Field Fisher Waterhouse has a strong industry focus with teams of lawyers who play an active role in their chosen industry sectors and are experts in the issues specific to those industries."

Chambers UK, 2009

Case studies

Tesla Motors
We have advised this Californian-based clean energy sports car manufacturer since the company first started negotiations with Lotus Cars for the collaborative design, development, manufacture and supply of the high performance, multi-award winning Tesla Roadster. The cross-border nature of the transaction, and the mix of unilateral and joint responsibilities added additional layers of complexity to the negotiations and contractual arrangements.

We also advise Tesla on: intellectual property matters, including European design and trade mark rights; distribution arrangements in Europe; and real estate matters.

 

G24 Innovations (G24i)
G24i combines innovative material science and nanotechnology to generate renewable power, in a process that imitates nature’s photosynthesis to convert the energy of sunlight into electricity.

In 2007 the company became the first in the world to produce commercial grade dyesensitised thin film cells. We advised G24i on its establishment in the UK and its first round venture capital financing and acquisition of technology and intellectual property (IP). Subsequently we advised the company on its debt conversion and capital restructuring, together with its further loan arrangements. We have also advised G24i on its IP protection, including patent strategy and protection of confi dential information, and trade mark and design portfolios.

Our Real Estate Group has advised on the acquisition of an 18,000 sq ft factory in Cardiff and G24i’s negotiations for this with the National Assembly for Wales. We are now assisting G24i on their application for a wind farm to generate the power required to run their factory.

We have also advised G24i on its further financings which raised US$50m in June/July 2008. 4rae, the renewable and alternative energy investment vehicle, invested $30m in July 2008. In June 2008, Morgan Stanley Principal Investments Europe LLC invested $20m in the company.

 

2K Manufacturing Ltd
We advised 2K Manufacturing Ltd (2K), one of the Guardian’s CleanTech 100 Companies in 2008, on a multi-stage funding agreement with Foresight Group (Foresight), a leading environmental investor, to support a multi-site rollout of plastics recycling facilities. 2K’s model involves the manufacture of an environmentally friendly plywood substitute board for the construction industry. The initial £5m investment was provided to fund the opening of the first facility and the agreement with Foresight provides a framework for further investment to support future expansion.

We also advised 2K on their IP licensing arrangements for the ground-breaking Powder Impression Moulding (PIM) technology, a patented process owned by ERT plc, giving 2K exclusive rights to manufacture and sell these products within the EU, as well as the first option over other main territories.

Omer Kutluoglu, CEO of 2K, said: “The advice and support given by Field Fisher Waterhouse has been exceptional, in both a legal and commercial sense. They have shown extraordinary diligence and commitment in helping 2K to complete the investment and we look forward to working with them again in future."

 

Agrinergy
Agrinergy is a leading provider of carbon credit services with a focus on projects related to the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol, allowing industrialised countries with a Greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries.

We advised the founding shareholders of Agrinergy and existing investor Rivertrade Limited on the sale of a 50% shareholding in Agrinergy Pte Ltd to RWE Power Climate Protection GmbH (RWE) and on the associated Shareholders Agreement between Rivertrade Limited and RWE to govern the resulting joint venture.

The partnership between Agrinergy and RWE brings together Agrinergy’s in-depth CDM know-how and experience and RWE’s own CDM expertise and fi nancial backing and together the parties aim to develop new CDM projects and strengthen existing and future customer relations.

Agrinergy provides companies in the developing world with an end-to-end solution for carbon credit related projects, its CDM project portfolio covers sectors from agroprocessing, blended cement, municipal waste, biomass, sugar and waste heat recovery and has operations in Singapore, India, Indonesia, Thailand and in the UK. RWE is one of Europe’s five largest utility companies, and operates over a hundred CDM projects in China, India, Egypt, South Korea, Chile and Vietnam.