DLA Piper advised entrepreneur Klaus Gehrlicher, as well as six additional co-investors, on the sale of all shares in Gehrlicher Solar Services GmbH to GOLDBECK Solar GmbH.

Gehrlicher Solar Services GmbH was established at the beginning of 2014 in the course of a management buy-out of the service and maintenance division of Gehrlicher Solar AG; it has a managed portfolio of approximately 170 MW in existing facilities, which are spread throughout Europe.

Following the successful reestablishment of the operations management and service business, together with the profitable positioning of the company in the market, the sale represents a step for the Gehrlicher Group on its way to the future refocusing on international photovoltaic (PV) project developments outside of Europe.

Through the acquisition of GSSG, which specializes in PV service provision and the technical operations management of photovoltaic power plants, GOLDBECK Solar is selectively extending its own operations management and service activities.

“We have found a partner in GOLDBECK who greatly appreciates the technical expertise and experience of our European service team and who, as a family enterprise, wishes to sustainably extend the operations and management business division as part of a long-term growth strategy,” commented Klaus Gehrlicher.

By establishing Enersys Energiesysteme in 1994, Klaus Gehrlicher laid the foundations for the subsequent Gehrlicher Solar Group, which, with more than 20 years of experience, is among the pioneers in the field of project development, EPC services and the establishment of funds within the solar industry. Today Gehrlicher Solar is a group of companies with international operations that focuses on project development and implementation in new markets. In addition to this, Gehrlicher Solar provides a full range of services in the field of asset management and operates its own solar parks in the two-digit MW range.

GOLDBECK Solar GmbH was founded in 2001 as a subsidiary of the Construction and Services Group GOLDBECK GmbH. The company provides a unique connection between construction services and solar systems, all from a single source. Particular focus is put on the planning, realisation and supervision of flat-roof solar systems and ground-mounted systems in Germany and abroad as well as on the development of energetic system solutions for commercial and industrial buildings.

Goldbeck GmbH is a medium-sized owner-managed group of companies which had an annual turnover of approx. 1.57 billion euros in the fiscal year 2013/2014. It has some 3,650 employees based at more than 40 locations in Germany and Europe.

The DLA Piper core team comprised Corporate partner Dr Benjamin Parameswaran, Corporate counsel Dr Isaschar Nicolaysen and Corporate  senior associate Sebastian Decker, all from the Hamburg office.