The Legal 500

Within Arbitration, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh has been involved in energy price review arbitrations, and Gerard Meijer represented an Austrian investor in setting-aside proceedings regarding a bilateral investment treaty award against The Republic of Croatia. Toon van Mierlo also has strong experience in international arbitration.

Within Asset finance and structured finance, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh acted for SNS Bank, Achmea and NIBC on updates to covered bond programmes; SNS Bank and Lowland 1 on a mortgage-backed securitisation; and ABN AMRO on a €10bn Fishbowl Master Issuer Programme. Willem Ruys, Michaëla Ulrici and Arjan Scheltema lead on securitisation matters.

Within Banking and finance, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

Arjen Tillema leads the team at NautaDutilh, which recently acted as Dutch counsel to JPMorgan Chase on the $600m refinancing of Ametek and also advised ABN AMRO and Rabobank on refinancing and acquisition financing arrangements. Pim Rank and Larissa Silverentand handle banking regulatory matters, and recently advised ABN AMRO on settling with Vestia over interest rate swaps. Erik Geerling and Thijs Lommen are key contacts for acquisition financing and general bank lending.

Within Capital markets, NautaDutilh is a second tier firm,

NautaDutilh is ‘well known for its services on debt capital markets’, and has ‘across-the-board capabilities and puts together very strong teams’. The ‘excellent’ Walter Schellekens advised Envipco on Dutch and Belgian law aspects of its reverse stock split and listing of new shares. Petra Zijp, who is ‘a strong negotiator, pragmatic yet very accurate’, has been advising on listings and debt and equity issuances, including Dockwise’s rights issue and listing on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam and the Oslo Bors.

Within Commercial litigation, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh is recommended for high-value, cross-border disputes. Paul Olden was part of the team which advised Dockwise in litigation regarding its hostile takeover of Fairstar. Bart Gerretsen represented Eneco in the Dutch Unbundling Act case. The practice is acting for a number of airlines in Supreme Court proceedings regarding mass compensation claims. Insolvency specialist Robert van Galen is a well-respected figure.

Within Construction, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

Bernard ter Haar leads NautaDutilh’s team, which also includes ‘fast and sharp thinker’ David van Ee, who focuses on transactions, procurement and litigation. The practice has been advising lenders to the Royal BAM consortium on agreements pertaining to various infrastructure projects, including RegioTram Groningen. The team is also representing clients in high-value disputes, including Neste Oil’s contractor disputes regarding its Maasvlakte plant.

Within Corporate and M&A, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh has a strong reputation for M&A and corporate governance, and acts for a number of financial institutions including Dexia Bank, ING and Citigroup. Christiaan de Brauw and Joost den Engelsman advised Dockwise on its takeover of Fairstar. Leo Groothuis acted for Intel on its €3.3bn investment in ASML.

Within EU and competition, NautaDutilh is a second tier firm,

NautaDutilh is best known for its merger control work and recently advised Elekta on its acquisition of Nucletron. Jaap Feenstra has been acting for the municipality of Rotterdam in a state aid investigation. Herman Speyart is ‘excellent’, and practice head Charles van Sasse van Ysselt is also recommended. Counsel Barbara Nijs joined from Clifford Chance in 2012.

Within Employment, NautaDutilh is a third tier firm,

NautaDutilh advises on individual and collective employment issues, aspects of corporate transactions, reorganisations, pension law and disputes. Clients include Deutsche Bank, Pathé Theatres and Mediq. Warner Roeters van Lennep and Albert van der Kolk jointly lead the team.

Within Energy, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh has a strong focus on transactional and commercial advice to energy sector clients such as Delta and Tulip Oil. It also provides regulatory advice. Harm Kerstholt is ‘technically brilliant and really knows the energy market and regulations’. He has been advising Total on acquiring a downstream gas business. Jaap Jan Trommel is ‘first rate: he is well connected and has a very strategic eye for business transactions’. Trommel is advising E.ON and GDF Suez on a carbon capture and storage project, and also advised Shtandart on the contract covering its $1bn investment in a Rotterdam oil terminal project. Toon van Mierlo is recommended for litigation.

Within Environment and planning, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh acts for clients such as Port of Amsterdam, Delta Energy, Stork, Hilversum and Honeywell. Erik Minderhoud and Norbert de Munnik head the practice, which is currently advising the municipality of Amsterdam on the Zuidas business district development; project managers on the IJburg residential housing project; and DuPont de Nemours on proposed site expansion projects.

Within Fraud and white-collar crime, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh represents corporations, government organisations and high-net-worth individuals in criminal investigations and fraud cases. The team includes Joost Italianer, Bert Fibbe and Rob van der Hoeven.

Within Information technology, NautaDutilh is a third tier firm,

NautaDutilh’s ‘very strong TMT and tech practice’ advises clients such as Achmea, Cognizant and Vodafone on commercial, regulatory and transactional matters. Tycho de Graaf is ‘an outstanding lawyer’ for IT contract negotiations, and Piet Sippens Groenewegen heads the practice.

Within Insurance, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh represents insurers, reinsurers and corporate clients in complex claims and multi-party litigation. Department head Eric van Niekerk continues to advise on insurance issues arising from the highly publicised fire at a Delft University of Technology faculty building. Sjoerd Meijer is recommended for his experience in advising insurers and financial institutions.

Within Intellectual property, NautaDutilh is a second tier firm,

NautaDutilh’s team is ‘responsive, commercial and willing to make a judgement call’. Seasoned litigator Charles Gielen is ‘a very safe pair of hands’ and good with commercial strategy. Anne Marie Verschuur gained a favourable judgement for LEGO in a trade mark, design and copyright case against Banbao Europe. The team also acted for Revillon Chocolatier in a trade mark shape case against Trianon. In patent litigation, John Allen advised Ziggo in an infringement case brought by Rovi and in litigation against BREIN. Allen’s ‘delivery in court is impressive’.

Within Media and entertainment, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh was co-counsel to public broadcasting company NPO in regulatory litigation against De Telegraaf newspaper regarding unlawful use of programme listings. Other clients include Ziggo and National State Lottery. Piet Sippens Groenewegen heads the department.

Within Mediation, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh’s Bart Gerretsen has experience in mediations.

Within Private equity, tier 4

NautaDutilh was Dutch counsel to Helios on its acquisition of Bureau van Dijk, and also acted on Elekta’s €365m acquisition of Nucletron from AlpInvest and Advent International. Gaike Dalenoord and Jeroen Preller lead the team on a wide range of private equity matters.

Within Project finance and PFI, NautaDutilh is a second tier firm,

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’.

Within Real estate, NautaDutilh is a second tier firm,

NautaDutilh continues to act on transactions for funds, banks, developers and public sector clients. David van Dijk heads the firm’s Benelux real estate group, which includes notaries Arief van Rhee and Kees Koetsier. The practice advised NUON on an office development and acted for the investor consortium acquiring the High Tech Campus Eindhoven. It also advised CBRE on a number of asset and development sales.

Within Restructuring and insolvency, NautaDutilh is a first tier firm,

NautaDutilh remains involved in the Yukos Oil and Lehman Brothers bankruptcies. It also advised SNS Property Finance as a creditor in the insolvency and restructuring of Eurocommerce, and was Dutch counsel to hedge funds involved in the restructuring of Endemol. Robert van Galen leads the team.

Within Shipping, aviation and transport, NautaDutilh is a third tier firm,

NautaDutilh has a leading ship finance practice work and is also active in aviation finance and transactions, where its clients include BNP Paribas and KLM. Team head Erik Geerling has ‘long experience and knowledge of international shipping matters’. Geerling and Marco den Otter have been advising Deutsche Bank, ABN AMRO and GarantiBank on financing arrangements. Mark Mouthaan is ‘hands-on, accurate and proactive’.

Within Tax, tier 4

NautaDutilh advises on tax aspects of corporate and finance transactions. Department head Chris Warner is ‘extremely experienced, efficient and gives very clear advice’. Edward Rijnhout was promoted to the partnership.

Within Telecoms, NautaDutilh is a third tier firm,

NautaDutilh advises Vodafone extensively on matters including tariff regulation, market analysis and frequency licensing proceedings. The practice has also been advising Ziggo on proceedings over cable network access. Practice head Piet Sippens Groenewegen provides ‘realistic, candid and clear advice, a good strategic view and extensive experience in telecoms’. Senior associate Paul Waszink is recommended for litigation.