Team size: 40 lawyers globally

Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department?

The Group legal department (“GLD”) is a centralised function. The head of GLD is general counsel, Anne-Lene Midseim.

The legal team is structured both with a focus on geography and in line with the different business areas (“BA”) of Hydro. There are dedicated lawyers appointed as head of each of the BA’s legal functions. In addition, there is a head of the legal team in Norway. The heads of the BA’s report directly to general counsel and are part of the legal management team.

Based in Oslo, there are the following heads of legal: Rolf Torgeir Aase for aluminium metal, Mari Zeiner-Gundersen for energy, Florian Krumbacher for extrusions.

What are the most significant cases and transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

In 2020 and 2021, GLD assisted on the divestment of Hydro’s rolling business area to KPS Capital Partner. The transaction included seven plants, one R&D center, global sales offices, and around 5,000 employees, of which 650 employees were based in Norway and the remaining in Germany. The lawyer responsible for this transaction was Karsten Winter, with significant assistance from lawyers Daniel L Wegner, Ingrid Anne Kinden and Annette Sommer.

GLD has also spent a significant amount of its resources in 2021 assisting Hydro Energy’s development of business opportunities within renewable power, hydrogen and batteries, where our capabilities match megatrends. This includes assistance with establishing the new subsidiaries Hydro Rein and Hydro Havrand, including the preparation of planned IPOs of these companies.

The lawyer responsible for advising the renewable energy initiatives was Hans Eide Aarre (now chief legal officer of Hydro Havrand), and from 1 January 2022, Mari Zeiner-Gundersen has taken over this role. Significant assistance on these projects was also provided by Theo Kalic, Stephan Guderian and Klaus Døscher,

Another significant transaction in the energy area was the Lyse transaction, in which Hydro and Lyse merged part of their respective hydropower production in southern Norway into a joint hydropower company. The transaction was completed on December 31, 2020.

As part of the transaction, the companies have merged power production assets in the south-west region of Norway through the establishment of a new company, Lyse Kraft DA, which includes Hydro’s hydropower assets Røldal-Suldal Kraft (RSK) and the majority of Lyse’s power production portfolio. The agreement is based on the framework set out in the Norwegian Waterfall Rights Act. Following the transaction, Hydro is Norway’s third-largest operator of renewable power, with a combined renewables production of 13.6 TWh in a normal year.

The lawyer responsible for this transaction was Hans Eide Aarre, with significant assistance from lawyers Rolf Torgeir Aase, Monica Hilseth-Hartwig and Ingrid Anne Kinden.

Annette Sommer
Head of legal Norway
Norsk Hydro ASA, Group Legal Department, Team Oslo
Norsk Hydro