The Legal 500

Clifford Chance handled a number of cross-border deals, including Maxeda’s disposal of fashion retail businesses; acting as Dutch counsel to Nielsen Holdings on the biggest private equity-backed IPO in the US to date; and advising Glide Buy-Out Partners on acquiring shares and making a public offer for Gamma Holding. It also acted for PGGM on the sale of AlpInvest Partners to Carlyle and AlpInvest’s management team. Thijs Alexander and Gregory Crookes co-head the team.

Allen & Overy LLP’s clients include Gilde, Bencis Capital Partners and NPM Capital. Karine Kodde led advice to 3i on certain disposals and acquisitions, including a majority stake in Dutch retailer Action and the €525m auction sale of Hyva. The practice also advised Parcom on its joint public offer with Glide Buy-Out Partners for Gamma Holding, and AlpInvest’s management on its joint bid with Carlyle for AlpInvest Partners.

Loyens & Loeff effectively combines transactional and fund formation work with tax expertise to advise clients such as ABN AMRO, AAC Capital Partners, PGGM, CVC Capital Partners, and Bouwinvest. It acted for Carlyle in acquiring a 60% stake in AlpInvest, as part of a joint acquisition with the management team. The practice provided Dutch law advice to Bain Capital on its acquisition of chemicals distributor IMCD. Herman Kaemingk and Harmen Holtrop are ‘very practical deal lawyers’.

De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s lawyers ‘bring more than just legal advice: they also provide real business insights’. Arne Grimme is ‘a talented lawyer with solid experience in private equity – he gets deals to a close’. Paul Cronheim advised Brit Insurance on its €1bn buyout by Apollo and CVC. The practice also advised AAC Capital Partners on transactions, and advised other investors on fund structuring. Anthonie Schutte ‘keeps the overall deal in sight; he understands what it means to work with private equity’.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s team is led by Shawn der Kinderen and now includes eight partners, following the promotion of Alexander Doorman. It has been representing bidders on various potential acquisitions and advised One Equity Partners on acquiring Smartrac.

Houthoff Buruma acts for Dutch and Belgian private equity firms, including advising Egeria and H2 Equity Partners on acquisitions. It also advised on the €525m sale of Dutch manufacturer Hyva to Unitas Capital, and assisted on Doughty Hanson’s €350m acquisition of Equity Trust. Eddie Meijer and Michiel Pannekoek are recommended.

Stibbe advises domestic and international private equity investors, including Egeria, Cyrte Investments, Bain Capital and De Hoge Dennen Capital. Recent highlights include advising on Dutch law aspects of Unitas Capital’s acquisition of Hyva. Practice head Björn van der Klip is ‘a very quick thinker and a pleasure to work with; private equity holds no secrets for him’.

Linklaters’ private equity work is led by Pieter Riemer, Bart Jan Kuck and Henk Arnold Sijnja. Clients include Carlyle Asia Partners, Waterland Private Equity and Bencis.

NautaDutilh acted for APG on the sale of shares in AlpInvest to Carlyle and AlpInvest management, and also advised on setting up healthcare private equity fund Capital Care Partners. It was Dutch counsel on Apollo and CVC’s buyout of Brit Insurance, and for Charterhouse on its €510m acquisition of Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishers. Gaike Dalenoord is ‘very smart, proactive, solutions-driven and commercially focused’.

Norton Rose LLP advised key client Prime Technology Ventures on numerous transactions, including the sale of Silicon Hive to Intel. Other clients include Gimv, Typhoon Capital and Atomico Ventures. The team includes corporate finance lawyers Marcel van de Vorst and Ep Hannema, who are recommended along with newly promoted partner Saskia Blokland.

Simmons & Simmons LLP’s Leo Verhoeff leads the firm’s international private equity group. The team advised Gilde on a number of transactions, including the sale of Jet Group and PR Group to H2 Equity Partners.

Van Doorne’s Onno Boerstra advised shareholders of Action, which was sold to 3i, and acted for the management of retail businesses divested by Maxeda Retail Group. Hans van Ramshorst joined Kennedy Van der Laan.