The Legal 500

Allen & Overy LLP’s projects practice encompasses transport infrastructure, PPPs and renewable energy. The team has been acting for the municipality of Groningen on the tender process for a greenfield light rail tram system as well as advising a consortium on its €1.3bn bid for the A1/A6 road infrastructure development. Other clients include TAQA, UniCredit and JPMorgan Chase. Practice head Werner Runge focuses on advising lenders, borrowers, project companies and sponsors on financing arrangements.

Clifford Chance’s projects team is ‘capable and reliable, with a good knowledge of PPP issues and DBFM contracts’. It has been advising on projects including some PPPs across the port terminals, oil and gas, and wind and other renewable energy spaces. Jaap Koster is acting for Rotterdam World Gateway on the €3bn Maasvlakte 2 land reclamation project and is also advising Typhoon Offshore on a €2.5bn North Sea offshore wind farm development. Other key clients include John Laing Investment, Dutch Infrastructure Fund, Strabag, Heijmans, and ING. Counsel Wieke Hoge is advising various bidders on PPP road projects, including the €550m A11 development.

De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s ‘genuinely service-minded and service-oriented’ team advises lenders and sponsors such as Strukton Group, City of Amsterdam, Dutch Railways, Rabobank, and NRG. Department head Menno Stoffer is advising BAM, Alstom and Connexxion as bidders for the PPP Regiotram light rail project in Groningen. Stoffer and Bommel van der Bend are also advising South Stream Transport on procurement and contracts pertaining to a deep-water pipeline project between Russia and Bulgaria.

Peter Habraken heads Houthoff Buruma’s practice, which has been acting on various PPP mandates, including advising the SAAone consortium on the €4.4bn A1/A6 road project and representing another consortium bidding for a mixed-use development in South Rotterdam. The team is also acting for Ballast Nedam and Strukton as winning bidders on the A2 motorway PPP scheme.

NautaDutilh is expert in energy sector mandates, and is representing the lenders on the financing of Warmtebedrijf Rotterdam heat-from-waste project as well as the Regiotram Groningen development. Rotterdam-based Erik Geerling co-heads the project finance team alongside London-based Arjan Pors, who is ‘absolutely a “go-to” person: he blends an outstanding knowledge of the law with a commercial understanding of his clients’.

As a key adviser to contracting authorities, Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NV is regularly involved in major PPP projects and PFIs. It continues to advise on the €4bn Schipol-Amsterdam-Almere PPP road development as well as projects such as the HSL-Zuid high-speed rail link. Mark Birnage heads the practice.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised on the Dutch law aspects of BAM’s successful bid for PPP contracts to develop Belgian prison complexes. Practice head Thijs Flokstra, who led advice to the lenders of a bidding consortium regarding the Regiotram Groningen project, is recommended, as is consultant Jereon Thijssen.

Norton Rose LLP advises lenders, developers and project companies on bids for major PPP infrastructure projects, and also acts on wind farms. Clients include Rabobank, Rotterdam World Gateway and Laing. Practice head Wouter Hertzberger provides ‘a combination of legal skills and pragmatic solutions’.

Stibbe is currently advising Heijmans on various infrastructure and other PPP mandates, including housing project bids and contracts for a National Military Museum development, and also advising the consortium of Ballast Nedam, Heijmans and Barclays on the A1/A6 road project. Additionally, it has been acting for the lenders on financing of the N33 motorway redevelopment. David Orobio de Castro leads the team.

AKD is advising on the redevelopment of Breda railway station, and acting for Volker Wessels, Park Strijp and the municipality of Eindhoven on a large-scale inner-city redevelopment, among other infrastructure and urban redevelopment projects. Marc Wintgens leads the team, which hired Harro Coppens from Stijl advocaten.

CMS’ banking partner Eduard Scheenstra advises on project finance and development.

Kennedy Van der Laan acts for project developers and local authorities on PPP matters, and advised Nationaal Kinderoncologisch Centrum (NKOC) on a new building development. Practice head Richard-Jan Roks and managing partner Casper Schouten are the key contacts.

Lexence acts for public and private sector clients on large-scale PPP and commercial developments. It has been advising the state, ProRail and Dutch Railways on the Zuidas business district as well as acting for local municipalities on the Greenport Venlo project. Taco de Lange is the key contact.

Loyens & Loeff advises a range of investors, lenders and borrowers on project developments, including a number of mandates in the energy sector. Willem Jarigsma and Gianluca Kreuze work as part of a cross-office financing team, and recently advised Northwind on an offshore energy development.

Van Doorne acts for project companies and financiers on various infrastructure, real estate and energy sector developments, including PFIs. Mark Moolhuizen and Stefan van Rossum lead the team, which is local counsel to the lenders backing the A1/A6 PPP road project consortium. Roel Botter advises hospitals on construction financing.