The Legal 500

Within Arbitration, Stibbe is a third tier firm,

Stibbe represents clients from a broad range of industries and has particular experience in cross-border cases. Jeroen Fleming heads the practice.

Within Asset finance and structured finance, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe has a strong focus on asset financings, and recently advised HSBC and BNP Paribas on a $2.5bn secured loan to Lundin Petroleum. Maarten de Bruin has experience in structured real estate finance. He advised Q-Park on a €1.1bn refinancing facility and also assisted Vesteda with a €625m floating rate notes issuance. Jaap Willeumier heads the practice.

Within Banking and finance, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe’s finance team, led by Jaap Willeumier, is best known for representing corporate borrowers but increasingly has been advising lenders. It advised Q-Park on a €1bn-plus refinancing and was Dutch counsel to HSBC and BNP Paribas on a $2.5bn secured loan to Lundin Petroleum. Regulatory expert Rogier Raas is ‘very skilful, knowledgeable, responsive, and creative’. Senior associate Joannes de Bont is also recommended.

Within Capital markets, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe’s core strength lies in equity capital market offerings. The highly regarded Derk Lemstra heads the equity team, which advised on local law aspects of Ziggo’s €804m IPO and acted for the underwriters on Yandex’s $1.3bn NASDAQ listing. Jaap Willeumier leads on debt market issuances. Other clients include Robert Bosch, JPMorgan Chase, Enel and ING.

Within Commercial litigation, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe’s hands-on team applies its ‘outstanding business acumen’ to complex litigation. Key clients include Heineken, Deloitte and AkzoNobel. Jeroen Kortmann, who has ‘outstanding expertise in cartel damages claims’, is acting for KLM and Martinair in the €1bn air cargo cartel litigation. Toni van Hees acted for ABN AMRO in disputes with former Fortis companies. Fons Leijten is defending a former Fortis shareholder againt the multibillion-euro claim brought by VEB.

Within Construction, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe’s experience in large-scale developments includes advising Vesteda on construction of the €180m ‘New Orleans’ residential tower complex. It is also advising DSM on a campus and railway tunnel project in Delft and assisting VU University with a €70m building construction scheme. Other clients include Heijmans, Siemens and Ballast Nedam. David Orobio de Castro is expert in EU and local procurement regulations.

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

Stibbe’s lawyers are ‘excellent handlers of transactions: no frills, they just deliver’. The team often acts on cross-border transactions, representing international clients including TomTom, Time Warner and Canon. Allard Metzelaar, who is recommended for ‘the more complicated M&A matters and corporate law issues’, advised Friesland Bank on its buyout by Rabobank. He also worked with Björn van der Klip on Provimi’s $2.14bn takeover by Cargill. Heleen Kersten advised Wavin on its high-profile €523m takeover by Mexichem.

Within EU and competition, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe has ‘excellent expertise in the field of competition law’ and gives ‘practical and street-smart advice’. Its particular strength lies in cartel work, and it recently advised Vodafone in a Dutch telecoms investigation. Other recent work includes defending Mars in an abuse of dominance case. Department head Christof Swaak is ‘practical, connected, no-nonsense, willing to do the dirty work, and very proactive in his advice’, and Jeroen Kortmann is ‘sophisticated, intelligent and understands complexities’. Rein Wesseling is ‘thorough, analytical, observes the strategic side of the matter, and is very well capable of translating complex issues into a non-legal level’.

Within Employment, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe’s employment team ‘really knows what it’s talking about’ and is ‘very good in the area of pension law’. It has been acting in disputes with unions and pension funds as well as advising on capital requirements directive restrictions for renumeration. Department head Jaap van Slooten is ‘bright, creative, strategic, trustworthy, and an absolute expert’. He acted for KLM in a Supreme Court age discrimination case. Paul Vestering advises clients such as Ziggo on employment aspects of corporate matters. Newly promoted partner Astrid Helstone is ‘extremely user-friendly, and understands commercial imperatives rather than just repeating the law’.

Within Energy, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe’s Martin In de Braekt is recommended for energy projects and transactional matters, and ‘very expert, competent, prompt and extremely commercially minded’. Recent highlights include advising Eneco on its joint venture with DONG Energy and assisting Air Liquide with its Green Hydrogen carbon capture and storage development.

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

Stibbe’s Aaldert ten Veen leads the team on zoning, planning and environmental issues, and regularly acts for government bodies as well as industrial and energy sector companies. The practice recently advised Electrabel, and its owner GDF Suez, on environmental permits for its Maasvlakte power plants, including handling related litigation. It is also advising the municipality of Almere on its city expansion project, including nature preservation issues. New clients include Built to Build, KLM and the province of Zeeland.

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

Stibbe’s Daan Doorenbos has particular experience in market abuse matters and recently defended clients against insider trading allegations at regional and Supreme Court level. He is also involved in the Dutch real estate fraud case.

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Within Private equity, Stibbe is a third tier firm,

Stibbe advises on various transactional, structuring and financing aspects of private equity deals. It recently acted as local counsel to Blackstone on its $1bn acquisition of the Mint hotel chain and also advised Silver Lake and Partners Group on the €1bn buyout of Global Blue from Equistone. Department head Bjorn van der Klip is expert in private equity deals.

Within Project finance and PFI, Stibbe is a third tier firm,

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.

Within Real estate, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe recently advised Q-Park on its refinancing and acted for ING REIM on selling certain international real estate activities to CBRE Group. The team also assisted Uni-Invest Holding with debt restructuring and the sale of loans. Other key clients include Vesteda, Blackstone, Amvest, and VolkerWessels. Practice head Joop Janssen focuses on project mandates, while Maarten de Bruin leads on transactions and financing.

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

Stibbe’s insolvency specialist Karen Harmsen is advising local authorities as creditors in the Landsbanki bankruptcy proceedings. Toni van Hees advised Zalco on the sale of assets. The practice has also been involved in the Lehman Brothers and DSB Bank matters. Senior associate Job van Hooff is also recommended for insolvency work.

Within Tax, tier 4

Stibbe’s ‘technically excellent’ tax group advises on transactions, fund structuring and other issues, and also handles litigation. Practice head Michael Molenaars and Jeroen Smits acted for NYSE Euronext on its proposed merger with Deutsche Börse. Other clients include Swiss Re, ING, Apollo, and Warburg Pincus.

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