The Legal 500

Within Aviation, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe acts for Brussels Airport on relevant regulatory, real estate and commercial matters. Frederik Vandendriessche and Rony Vermeersch ‘have the necessary know-how, and are very customer-oriented’.

Within Banking, finance and capital markets, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe is praised for being ‘very competent, nice, easy people to work with’, singling out Jan Peeters, Pascal Vanden Borre and senior associate Wouter Ghijsels. Clients say the ‘balanced and strong team’ has ‘flexibility and adaptability to varying types of work’ such as PPP financing, rights issues and refinancing, in ‘finding cost-efficient solutions’. Ivan Peeters is ‘truly outstanding, both as expert and as trusted advisor’ in his field of securitisation; Peeters advised BNP Paribas Fortis on an innovative €25bn asset-backed securities programme, backed by loans for Belgian small businesses, a first for Belgium. Clients include ING and the Flemish regional government.

Within Competition, Stibbe is a third tier firm,

Stibbe’s Peter Wytinck is ‘highly reliable, with a thorough understanding of legal issues in a business context’ and is ‘great for Belgian competition law’, and Hendrik Viaene gives ‘pragmatic advice’. The team is growing at associate level. and has extensive EU state aid experience for the Flemish region, but is best known for its excellent Belgian competition law practice, including private actions. Highlights included the Akzo Nobel appeal to the ECJ (for Akzo Nobel), and work for the Belgian FA, Thomas Cook and Kinepolis. Marc van der Woude was appointed, in September 2010, as Belgium’s judge on the EU’s General Court.

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

Stibbe’s corporate team has excellent market recognition, with Olivier Clevenbergh and Pascal Vanden Borre recommended. With a 28-lawyer team, it has the resources to suit any deal, and the flexibility to adapt. Instructions from Goldman Sachs on Belgium’s largest ever secondary buy-out, at €1.2bn ran alongside work on Amcor’s €2bn acquisition of Rio Tinto Alcan’s EU packaging business, and the €735m sale of Vitol’s stake in a subsidiary. It also assisted supermarket Carrefour in a highly public restructuring of operations. Clients say the team is ‘really professional and prompt with its answers and well qualified’ and that ‘it always delivers on time.’

Within Dispute resolution, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe’s practice encompasses a wide span, including banking and commercial disputes, arbitration, company and insolvency law, as well as ECJ and appellate advocacy. Bruno Maes and Ludovic De Gryse are also admitted to the Supreme Court Bar, and work for BNP Paribas before that court eliminated the last challenge to the bank’s takeover of Fortis. Head of practice Jean-Pierre Fierens is ‘an outstanding lawyer’, and he is also a skilled arbitrator.

Within EU regulatory: Energy, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe’s Frederik Vandendriessche is praised for his ‘in-depth specialisation in energy law, and solid understanding of the economics of the energy business’. Wouter Geldhof was promoted to partner.

Within EU regulatory: Environment (including WEEE and RoHS), Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe has an excellent environment practice, advising E.ON on air quality, as well as defending the Flemish regional government in the ECJ over the implementation of the EIA Directive. Jan Bouckaert is recommended.

Within EU regulatory: Financial services, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Clients hail Stibbe’s quality of advice and project assistance as ‘outstanding’, having advised UBS and KBC on various regulatory aspects, ranging from MiFID to UCITS. Jan Peeters is recommended.

Within EU regulatory: Information technology, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe is recognised for extensive work with the European Commission, including on award of public IT tenders, as well as assisting Google and YouTube on EU e-commerce regulations. Erik Valgaeren is particularly rated for ‘depth of expertise in outsourcing deals’.

Within EU regulatory: Privacy and data protection , Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe’s IT team has ‘very good industry knowledge’ in this sector, delivering ‘constantly high quality’ advice; IT expert Erik Valgaeren is recommended. Clients include Google, Mozilla and BP.

Within Environment, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe’s Jan Bouckaert and team have been busy advising clients who value the firm’s ‘great stability’ and ‘good human qualities and professional skill’. Clients also praise the fact that ‘response times are respected, and its analysis is well balanced’. The team assisted in planning matters for Besix and PMV as developers and PPP investors respectively, as well as Leaseinvest on soil contamination issues. Monique Kestemont is recommended for development-led planning law.

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

Stibbe’s Hans Van Bavel is ‘well regarded in this field’. Aligned to a broad sectoral experience across the pharmaceutical, finance and insurance fields, his strong trial lawyering skills extend to appellate litigation before the Supreme Court. His work for ABN AMRO, following criminal proceedings over a bank robbery involving €25m of diamonds, is indicative of a high standard of instruction.

Within Information technology, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

Stibbe’s Erik Valgaeren is praised for his ‘professionalism and excellent knowledge’; he is ‘flexible, and can work under stress’ but has the ‘expertise required to lead and manage both large and difficult deals’. IT outsourcing, data protection, domain name disputes, and complex contractual drafting are all handled. Financial sector clients, such as Dexia and Argenta, count alongside Belgian Railways as clients. The team advised Delta Lloyd Life on a five-year €75m outsourcing contract.

Within Intellectual property, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe’s team is headed by Ignace Vernimme (‘clearly an expert’) and supported by partner Brigitte Dauwe (‘highly recommended’); the team is praised for its advice to SME’s in a Flemish government sponsored scheme on securing IP rights. Vernimme’s breadth of IP interests spans the recycling industry, with strategic legal advice to Recmix and Recoval, and handling patent infringement claims for Sumitomo.

Within Labour and employment, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe handles mostly employer-related work, and is particularly praised for handling of collective bargaining issues with unions. Clients state they are ‘very satisfied about the service’ given by practice head Jean-Philippe Cordier. Corinne Merla’s pensions work is growing, plus the team also promoted Elisabeth Matthys to partner. Additional notable instructions included representing Arcelor-Mittal in proceedings over employee share benefits, worth €35m, and voluntary redundancy plans, for BNP Paribas Fortis.

Within Media and entertainment, Stibbe is a third tier firm,

Stibbe acts for an enviable number of web companies, such as Google, YouTube and Dedica on privacy issues connected with the internet, including litigation on the anonymity of bloggers. Entertainment clients include cinema owner, Kinepolis and Belgacom. Erik Valgaeren is recommended.

Within Real estate, Stibbe is a first tier firm,

‘More than happy with the quality of their work’, say clients of Stibbe. A diverse list of clients includes the Flemish government, asset managers and developers. It has been active on a 62,000 sq m joint venture between Segro and KBC on a mixed use development in Rumst, one of Belgium’s bigger logistics deals, and a €44m student facilities deal with the University of Ghent. Rudy Nauwelaerts is recommended for more than merely transactional work; but also setting out strategies for green, sustainable, real estate, important in Brussels’ tightly packed urban core. Rony Vermeersch continues to be active in the PPP market.

Within Shipping and transport, Stibbe is a third tier firm,

Stibbe’s clients include the Antwerp Port Authority, where the team assist on construction issues, and NMBS, the national railway operator, on the acquisition of 200 new trains for the Brussels region. Frederik Vandendriessche is the lead contact.

Within Tax, Stibbe is a second tier firm,

Stibbe’s Thierry Denayer continues to attract praise for his work. Market feedback was good, stressing his ability (‘technically strong’), leadership (‘a top-notch team’) and flexibility. Clients note an ability to advise different industries, frequently remarking on ‘good knowledge about our sector’. The team’s tax litigation cases frequently attract precedential value; the tax treatment for excess dividend received deductions being incompatible with the wording of EU directives suggests no exception to this. Clients include BNP Paribas Fortis, and the Flemish regional government.