Michelmores has advised Rebalance Earth, the UK-based nature-focused asset manager, on its recent investments into Oyster Heaven, a marine restoration company pioneering scalable oyster reef recovery.
The investment is the first from Rebalance Earth’s cornerstone portfolio, backed by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF), which will support the infrastructure needed to restore coastal ecosystems and deliver measurable environmental outcomes. This marks Europe’s first oyster reef restoration initiative funded by private investment, positioning it as a landmark project in the emerging ‘nature as infrastructure’ space.
The Michelmores team, led by Banking, Restructuring & Insolvency team Partner, Karen Williams alongside Ben Sharples, Charlie Parker, Chloe Vernon-Shore and Katharine Everett-Nunns provided English legal advice to Rebalance Earth on all aspects of the transaction. The Firm worked with Van Doorne, who advised on Dutch law elements of the deal.
The £25m investment into Rebalance Earth’s cornerstone portfolio was made by WYPF earlier this year, with a mandate to support nature-based infrastructure solutions that enhance climate resilience, create long-term value, and deliver biodiversity benefits.
Karen Williams comments:
“We are proud to support Rebalance Earth on this milestone investment, which represents an exciting step forward in the scaling of nature-positive infrastructure. It has been a pleasure to work with the team and play a role in enabling innovation in private natural capital markets.”
Rebalance Earth was launched in 2023 with the ambition to make nature a core component of the global economic system. The Oyster Heaven partnership reflects its growing pipeline of projects designed to monetise ecosystem services – including through carbon credits, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units, and payments for ecosystem services (PES).
