The Legal 500

Allen & Overy LLP advises on both debt and equity matters, and acted for the Dutch state on its €2.6bn hybrid capital injection in ABN AMRO Bank, consisting of three tranches of mandatory convertible securities. It also advised ABN AMRO Bank on the demerger of its outstanding €1bn 4.31% hybrid capital securities, as part of the split of the former ABN AMRO Group. Tim Stevens and Niels van de Vijver head the team.

Clifford Chance combines ‘a high level of service and good market knowledge with accurate and practical advice from a team that is always reachable and prepared to go the extra mile for the client’. The team acted for the arrangers on the acquisition financing of the Super de Boer acquisition by Jumbo, and advised on the restructurings of Schoeller Arca, Lyondell Basell, and Heijmans. Mark Huddlestone heads the team.

Recent key work for De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek includes advising Unilever on its proposed capital restructuring through a cancellation of its 4% cumulative preference shares and a public offer for its 6% and 7% cumulative preference shares. It also advised Aviva during the €1bn IPO of Delta Lloyd. Practice head Jan Willem Hoevers and Niek Biegman are recommended.

Linklaters advised RBS on TenneT’s issuance of €500m fixed-to-floating rate perpetual capital securities. It also advised the underwriters on TomTom’s €430m equity offering. The practice bolstered the team by recruiting Kees Westermann from Clifford Chance. Pim Horsten heads the team.

Petra Zijp heads the team at NautaDutilh, which is active in both debt and equity work. The group advised the underwriters on Delta Lloyd’s IPO. It also advised JPMorgan Securities and Credit Suisse as lenders and initial purchasers on UPC’s €640m issuance of senior notes due 2020, and the tender offer for outstanding senior notes due 2014. The group ‘understands the sector, is commercial, practical, and knowledgeable of the likely reaction of the regulator’. Jan Paul Franx is recommended.

At Stibbe, ‘answers are almost always instantly available with follow up where relevant’. Derk Lemstra has ‘tremendous knowledge of the Dutch legal system, particularly capital markets’, and acts for clients such as ING, JPMorgan, and Rabobank.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the joint global co-ordinators on the €227m rights offering by Wavin. It also advised Reed Elsevier plc and Reed Elsevier NV on a €964m private placement in London and Amsterdam through an accelerated bookbuild process, with JPMorgan Cazenove and UBS as joint bookrunners. Robert ten Have heads the equity team and Thijs Flokstra heads the debt team.

Houthoff Buruma advised SAT & Co on a $564m market capitalisation, in relation to its proposed equity investment in ShalkiyaZinc. The group also advised Bovemij Verzekeringsgroep on an equity raising.

CMS Derks Star Busmann advised Germany1 Acquisition Limited on the €532m acquisition of AEG Power Solutions. Reinout Slot heads the team.

Barbara van Hussen leads DLA Piper’s team, which acted for Jetix Europe on its delisting from Euronext. Other clients include Bulgaria Steel Finance, Carlyle and Bridgepoint Capital.

Wietse de Jong’s team at Greenberg Traurig LLP acted for a Euronext-listed company on a €80m private placement of convertible bonds and shares, and advised Black Box Real Estate on its public debt offering to finance Ziggo Dome.

Hogan Lovells International LLP’s Ken Breken handles debt capital markets work, while Victor de Vlaam heads up the equity capital markets element of the practice. Clients include ING, ABN AMRO and Fortis.

Loyens & Loeff advised the underwriters on Nielsen Holdings N.V.’s proposed IPO on the NYSE, and acted for LBi Netherlands regarding its IPO and rights offering on Euronext Amsterdam. Nelleke Krol and Peter Corten co-head the team and are recommended along with Kitty Lieverse.

Gijs van Leeuwen is the lead partner in Norton Rose LLP’s capital markets practice, which regularly advises on debt-side deals. Clients include BMW and Export Development Canada.

‘Excellent for debt and equity matters,’ the team at Simmons & Simmons LLP advised DUNIA Capital regarding the update of its €500m notes issuance and alternative investments programme. It also advised investment banks Kempen & Co and Petercam Bank on the €12m equity offering by Pharming Group, a Euronext Amsterdam-listed biotech company, which increased its outstanding share capital by more than 60%. Daphne Brinkhuis and Michiel Wurfbain head the team.

Van Diepen Van der Kroef Advocaten advises clients on structuring public offerings of non-listed securities for the purposes of raising capital for international finance transactions.

Van Doorne’s ‘hardworking and responsive’ team is strong on both debt and equity matters. It advised Morgan Stanley and Barclays Capital as the underwriters on Sensata Technologies Holding’s $568.8m IPO and listing of ordinary shares on the NYSE. Roel Botter and Stefan van Rossum head the team, along with Harm Uittien, who ‘always fights hard for his clients’ interests’.