European Commission Clears Formosa 1 Deal Between DONG, Macquarie and Swancor

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of joint control over Formosa 1 International Investment of Taiwan by DONG Energy, Australia’s Macquarie and Swancor Holding of Taiwan.

Turbine installation at Formosa I, Phase I. Source: Maersk Broker

Formosa 1 is an offshore wind farm project to be developed, constructed and operated near Miaoli, Taiwan.

EC concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns as the geographical area where the wind farm will operate is in Taiwan.

In January 2017, DONG Energy and Macquarie Capital signed agreements to acquire a combined 85% ownership interest in the Formosa I from the developer, Swancor Renewable.

Formosa I comprises two phases. Phase I has a total capacity of 8MW and consists of two turbines that were installed in October 2016.

In Phase II, a further 120MW of capacity is planned to be constructed during 2019, subject to final investment decision.

Formosa I is located approximately 3 kilometres off the Coast of Miaoli County in North-West Taiwan.

The transaction also needs to be approved by the Investment Commission under Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.

If the deal is approved by the Taiwanese authorities, the new owners of Formosa I will be Macquarie Capital (50%), DONG Energy (35%), and Swancor Industries (15%).