Baker McKenzie advises Tokyo Gas on its investment in Principle Power, a leading US technology service provider

Baker & McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) recently advised Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (President: Takashi Uchida, “Tokyo Gas”) on its investment in Principle Power, Inc., a leading floating wind power technology company based in the US. Principle Power — developer and owner of the proprietary WindFloat® technology — has over 100 MW under construction and advanced developments in Portugal, Scotland and France, along with a multi-GW commercial projects in the pipeline around the world.
Tokyo Gas has become one of Principle Power’s primary investors and shareholders in the field of floating offshore wind power generation.

The transaction represents the largest equity round closed by Principle Power to date and is accompanied by a cooperation agreement that will help establish commercial-scale deployment opportunities for the company’s WindFloat® technology within Japan. Under Tokyo Gas’ vison, “Compass 2030,” the company is targeting expansion of its renewable power generation capacity globally to 5 GW by 2030 in order to actively contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.

The Firm’s team was led by Samir Desai, co-head of the Tokyo office’s Projects Group, and associate Stephen McCann, with the support of Junya Ae and Michio Suzuki in Tokyo and Sylwia Lis in Washington, DC.

Samir had the following comments on the deal. “We congratulate Tokyo Gas on this investment. Despite the challenges we face in this unprecedented historical moment, we are honored to be part of such a socially significant project, which will help make our lives more sustainable through efficient use of local renewable energy resources. We very much look forward to continuing to work closely with Tokyo Gas in the area of offshore wind power and other renewable energy projects in the future.”