The Legal 500

Within Banking, finance and capital markets, Laga is a third tier firm,

Laga’s Werner van Lembergen is praised for ‘his analysis and negotiation skills’ whilst the firm is ‘excellent for midmarket capital markets work’. The team’s standout transaction was work on a €250m financial restructuring of a Belgian listed company, for a consortium of Fortis, RBS, Dexia, KBC and ING. David Roelens’s equity capital markets work is also recommended. Regulatory advice is of an equally high standard.

Within Corporate and M&A , Laga is a third tier firm,

Laga‘s work achievements over 2009/2010 included representing ING, Petercam and Dexia, in underwriting the €79m Euronext IPO of Warehouses De Pauw (a Belgian REIT). It also assisted Telenet on its acquisition of BelCompany, and Picanol on a capital increase, shareholder squeeze-out and public offering, worth €15m. Hilde Laga is recommended. David Roelens ‘has a commercial spirit, but is also technically strong and a good negotiator’.

Within Dispute resolution, Laga is a third tier firm,

Laga has recent experience of Lehman Brothers-related litigation, which familiarity with Belgian insolvency law gives the team a good framework for solving other disputes. ICT outsourcing companies, privately-owned manufacturers and local government bodies all benefit from Hilde Laga, Jürgen Egger and Stefan Nerinckx’s fine work.

Within Fraud and white-collar crime, Laga is a second tier firm,

Laga’s Jürgen Egger handled director-level advice in relation to possible market abuse cases, and the team secured appellate victories for clients accused of tax fraud and forgery, including at Supreme Court level. Laga’s experience has assisted clients in the building, professional services, legal and financial sectors. Johan Speeke is also recommended.

Within Information technology, Laga is a third tier firm,

Laga’s IT practice is now centred on Jürgen Egger following the departure of Bart Lieben to Crowell & Moring. Egger advised on internet sales for a Belgian supermarket and on software licensing contracts.

Within Intellectual property, Laga is a third tier firm,

Laga’s Jürgen Egger is recommended for ‘conceptual thinking’ and providing ‘professional advice in a very short time’. Clients include a manufacturer of innovative aluminum solutions, who it advised on patent protection. Trade mark protection and product labelling advice is also offered.

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

Erwin Vandervelde of Laga heads the team, whose clients include a global oil and gas company, a major French financial services provider and a local utilities manufacturer. Its approach is typified by Stefan Nerinckx, who is ‘very responsive, friendly, down-to- earth and to-the-point’, and ‘takes a pragmatic approach and solves problems quickly’. Advisory work handled includes transfers of undertaking, pension issues, expatriate employment contracts, social security, and immigration; employment litigation is also handled, (including dismissals of CEO/CFO-level staff). Clients include Manpower.

Within Real estate, Laga is a second tier firm,

Laga continues to handle transactions from real estate clients. It represents Robelco, a major Belgian real estate developer and investor, and worked with Lindner Hotels on its acquisition of a hotel in Antwerp. It has also advised RAC (a joint venture of property developers Breevast and Immobel) on real estate financing for the proposed Bel’air development. Werner van Lembergen and David Roelens are recommended.

Within Tax, Laga is a third tier firm,

Laga’s Hilde Laga and Johan Speecke are known for their tax litigation work. The team represented a Belgian private investment company, which successfully challenged Belgian tax law before the ECJ, on the double taxation on its dividends under the parent/savings directive. The team also appeared in the Supreme Court for an individual taxpayer on a successful case, turning on the equality and non-discrimination of Belgian subsidiary tax assessment against the Belgian constitution. Of counsel Luc De Broe joined the team in December 2010, whilst former partner Benoît Nibelle left the firm.