Triniti has advised Utilitas on the joint venture to establish a district heating company with the City of Tallinn. Sorainen reportedly advised the City of Tallinn.
According to Triniti, Utilitas is Estonia’s largest district heating company and producer of renewable energy. “The company supplies heat to 386,000 households in nearly 5,500 buildings in eight Estonian cities and provides district cooling services.”
According to the same firm, Utilitas and the City of Tallinn agreed on “a timeframe and action plan for the establishment of a joint district heating company […] which will be 33.34% owned by the City of Tallinn and 66.66% by Utilitas. The joint venture will be a holding company managing district heating investments in the Tallinn district heating area. Entry into force of the transaction is subject to the approval of the Tallinn City Council and the completion of the transaction is subject to a merger control clearance from the Competition Authority.”
“The new joint venture shall continue the upgrading of the district heating network and investing in new renewable energy sources such as wastewater and seawater heat pumps,” Triniti reported. “The business plan of AS Utilitas Tallinna Soojus aims to achieve a carbon-neutral district heating and cooling supply by 2030 at the latest, including a reduction of the share of natural gas in district heating to below 10% by 2027 at the latest, which will allow a reduction of fossil fuel consumption by more than 500,000 megawatt-hours. The aim is also to extend the district heating and cooling network, to allow easy connection and, depending on technical possibilities, to bring the network to urban areas that today mainly use fossil heating sources.”
In 2021, Triniti also advised both Utilitas and the City of Tallinn on their EUR 100.2 million acquisition of a 35.3% stake in AS Tallinna Vesi from United Utilities (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 10, 2021).
The Triniti team included Managing Partner Ergo Blumfeldt, Partner Tanel Kalaus, and Senior Associates Ain Kalme, Sandor Elias, and Mikk Pold.