The Legal 500

Femke Bierman’s team at Allen & Overy LLP advised the lenders on the €1.8bn revolving credit and standby facility for Koninklijke Philips Electronics. The practice also acted for Jumbo Groep Holding on financing its acquisition of the assets and liabilities of Super de Boer. Niels de Ru was recently made a partner and Andrew Thomas is recommended. Ben Fox ‘adds a lot of value, and understands his customers’ needs’.

Mark Huddlestone heads Clifford Chance’s four-partner practice, which is ‘a reliable business partner’ that is ‘a natural choice for matters in the Benelux corporate syndicated loan market’. The group advised Stirling Square Capital Partners on financing for the acquisition of Environmental Solutions Europe Holding, and also acted for Rabobank on financing Orascom Construction Industries’ acquisition of DSM Agro and DSM Melamine. Angela McEwan and Jelle Hofland are recommended.

Jan Marten van Dijk heads the banking and finance team at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, which advised Dutch Railways on a €350m standby credit facility agreement with a syndicate of banks including Rabobank and ING. It also represented Netherlands-based food group VION on its credit facilities, including a multibank, multicurrency term and revolving senior facilities agreement, and advised HAL Holding on its €100m credit facility with BNP Paribas. Menno Stoffer is recommended.

NautaDutilh’s 22-partner practice ‘never seems to have a resourcing issue, has very good commercial judgement, and does not come across instances of insurmountable obstacles’. The team advised Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Barclays on financing arrangements relating to Bain Capital Partners’ acquisition of the assets of The Dow Chemical Company’s Styron division. It also represented BNP Paribas on Dutch aspects of its acquisition of the operations of Fortis in Belgium and Luxembourg and its asset management activities in the Netherlands. Arjen Tillema heads the team, in which Erik Vermeulen and Elizabeth van Schilfgaarde are also recommended.

Recent highlights for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer include advising Boskalis on the acquisition of Smit Internationale and the refinancing of a bridge loan which was replaced by funding raised via a USPP. It also acted for Rabobank on FrieslandCampina’s €1bn refinancing. Thijs Flokstra heads the practice.

Linklaters’ banking and finance team advised Nutreco Holding as borrower on refinancing a €550m syndicated multicurrency revolving credit facility. Other clients include InterXion Holding, ABN AMRO and ProLogis European Properties Fund II. Martijn Koopal and Onno Bakker head the team.

Headed by Willem Jarigsma, the team at Loyens & Loeff acted for ING Commercial Finance regarding a €50m standby nonrecourse factoring arrangement. Additional clients include ABN AMRO, FGH Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, and GE Financial. Kitty Lieverse is recommended, while Gianluca Kreuze recently made partner.

AKD advised Natixis as agent of a syndicate granting a $250m base credit facility to a Netherlands-based multinational. It also acted as Dutch legal adviser to Landesbank Baden-Württemberg in connection with the revision and unwinding of several cross-border sale-and-leaseback transactions involving Dutch energy suppliers such as ENECO and ENW. Eelco van den Berg’s ‘responses are accurate and comprehensive, and given in timely manner’. Barend Post heads the team. .

Baker & McKenzie Amsterdam N.V. acted as Dutch counsel to DBS Bank on two financings of Airbus A321-200 aircraft leased to Vietnam Airlines. It also acted as Dutch counsel to BNP Paribas, as lender in respect of a restatement and amendment of a €100m senior term and revolving credit facilities agreement. Philippe Steffens heads the team and Fedor Tanke is also recommended.

Boekel De Nerée’s banking and finance practice is led by Hans Sachse. Property finance is a clear specialism, and the team advised Dutch property investor Maarsen Groep in connection with a €200m long-term lease structure to be entered into with the Municipality of Rotterdam. Angelique Thiele is also recommended.

Bart Joosen leads the team at DLA Piper, which advised Afvalsturing Friesland on financing a 15MW residual power plant in Harlingen. It also acted for Santander regarding its co-operation with Volvo Cars Nederland for the purposes of providing wholesale financing arrangements to the entire Dutch Volvo dealer network. Gerard Kneppers is singled out for praise.

Hogan Lovells International LLP recently acted for Deutsche Bank on a multijurisdictional borrowing base facility for Nyrstar. ING, NIBC Bank and Bayerische LandesBank are key clients. Ken Breken leads the practice.

Houthoff Buruma acted for Royal Bank of Canada regarding a €900m acquisition financing for Dana Petroleum, and acted as legal counsel to KazMunaiGaz Finance for updating and increasing its $5bn global medium-term notes programme. It also acted for Wells Fargo Securities and Wachovia on refinancing and a subsequent $220m private placement by Bumble Bee Foods, Connors Bros, and Clover Leaf Seafoods. Oscar van Angeren has ‘outstanding legal skills, is a pleasant guy, and has excellent response times’. Loet Venrooy and Hugo Oppelaar are also recommended.

Norton Rose LLP’s team is, ‘in short, pragmatic, commercial and available at any time’. It advised Rabobank on solar rooftop project financings developed by Enfinity, and acted for Lloyds TSB and Fortis on a borrowing base facility for a Dutch borrower in the metals sector. It also advises on regulatory issues relating to Islamic finance products. Gijs van Leeuwen heads the practice.

Simmons & Simmons LLP advised on the €1.8bn facility made available to Enexis by 136 Dutch provinces and municipalities. It also acted on the refinancing of National Amusement Inc in 2009, and on the repayment of financing and release of security in 2010. Daphne Brinkhuis heads the team.

Stibbe advised BNP Paribas on a $3bn term loan facility for the Angola unit of BP, and acted for Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse on a $1bn issuance of senior secured notes due 2018. Other clients include Impress Group, Uni-Invest, and TomTom. Jaap Willeumier leads the group.

Van Doorne advised Bain Capital and Advent International on financing their acquisition of an 80% majority interest in Royal Bank of Scotland’s payment-processing business. It also advised Aareal Bank on refinancing the acquisition of Invesco’s pan-European hotel portfolio. Team head Roel Botter and Stefan van Rossum are recommended.