HAMBURG/KIEL HSH Nordbank is to be presented with the “M & A Deal of the Year” award at a ceremony organised by the international specialist periodical Project Finance International (PFI) in London on 30 January. Every year PFI selects the best project finance deals in the past year. HSH Nordbank belonged to a syndicate consisting of twelve banks that supported the sale of the E.ON subsidiary Open Grid Europe (OGE) to a group of inves-tors involved in investment funds managed by the Australian bank Macquarie and Munich Re. The sale went for EUR 3.2 billion, with the banks involved providing credit facilities totalling EUR 2.75 billion.

Dr. Marcus Kleiner
OGE, which is headquartered in Essen, operates the largest gas pipeline network in Ger-many with a length of around 12, 000 kilometres and is the European hub for major gas flows from Russia and Norway. OGE transports almost 62.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas, around 70 percent of Germany’s total gas volume.
“Participation in this significant infrastructure transaction in Germany strengthens the position of HSH Nordbank in the market for banks that finance infrastructure in the Bank’s core region and the rest of Europe, ” says Dr. Marcus Kleiner, Head of Origination Infra-structure & Rail at HSH Nordbank.