McGuireWoods assisted client Vanguard Renewables — a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock — in its acquisition of Generate Upcycle’s North American operations to create the largest food waste-to-renewable natural gas (RNG) platform in North America.
The transaction reflects a shift in the resource recovery market, with shrinking landfill capacity and an increased demand for transforming organic waste into energy. The addition of Generate Upcycle’s anaerobic digestion operations in New York and Ontario brings Vanguard Renewables’ combined platform to 19 facilities across North America and establishes a presence in Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations.
Jay Hughes, Devin Crisanti, Elizabeth Walsh and Jacob Lubinski led the McGuireWoods deal team. All are members of the firm’s Energy M&A and Finance Practice Group. The team also included Doug Lamb (RNG commercial matters); Jon Neal and Alec Sauble (tax); Madison Wyche and Anna Lu (real estate); David Franchina and Matthew Giordano (environmental); Ann Terrell Dorsett (insurance); Marc Nawyn (employee benefits); Brent Justus and Matthew Hall (antitrust); Durham McCormick Jr., Sarah Zepeda, Jason Huh and Aaron Mitchell (renewables tax issues); and Gretchen Woodruff and Alice Moscicki (labor and employment).
“Getting a deal of this scale across the finish line required close coordination across tax, real estate, environmental, antitrust and RNG regulatory and cross-border issues, and we were proud to deliver that integrated approach for Vanguard Renewables, a client partner Greg Riegle brought to the firm nearly a decade ago,” Hughes said. “We were also fortunate to work alongside our longtime colleagues at Borden Ladner Gervais on this transaction.”
McGuireWoods’ Energy M&A and Finance Practice Group — ranked nationally by Chambers USA, the Legal 500 United States and Best Law Firms — combines focused industry knowledge, regulatory fluency and practical, business-driven solutions to ensure clients complete strategic transactions, secure financing and advance critical projects across North America.
To learn more about Vanguard Renewables’ acquisition of Generate Upcycle’s North American operations, read the full announcement here.