The Legal 500 > Europe, Middle East & Africa > Netherlands > Banking and finance: lender or arranger side

Clifford Chance’s group is a popular choice for outbound transactions. The team recently advised the lenders on the amendment and restatement of a $300m corporate facility agreement provided to Seplat Petroleum Development Co, a Nigerian independent oil and gas company. Titus de Vries leads the practice. Angela McEwan, Mark Huddlestone  and Jelle Hofland are other names to note.

NautaDutilh’s team is 'highly efficient' and is praised by one client for 'never engaging more team members than necessary'. It has notable expertise in cross-border work and is key name for real estate, restructuring and project finance mandates. Swedish private equity firm EQT is a major client for the practice, with team lead Ajan Pors acting for the client on the provision of financing to Argand Partners for the acquisition of Oase Management. Willem Keukens was promoted to counsel in April 2018. The group can also draw on the expertise of Elizabeth van Schilfgaarde and Walter Schellekens, the firm's managing partners in New York and London respectively.

DLA Piper’s 'experienced' team provides ‘a practical approach to solutions’. In recent work, the group advised Berlin Hyp on the syndicated senior financing for the purposes of financing part of the acquisition of the “Maastoren” by the joint venture between FOM Real Estate, Asia Pacific Real Estate and Coquine. Max Mayer joined as a partner from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Lex Oosterling and Gerard Kneppers are other names to note.

Houthoff fields 'a hands-on, practical and knowledgeable’ team, which acts for domestic and international banks. Jessica Terpstra is advising Crédit Agricole, as the lender and arranger, on the financing of the merger of CB&I and McDermott, valued at $6bn. Group head Loet Venrooy is another key name.

AKD advises clients on cross-border acquisition finance matters. The department is headed by Vincent Bentonville and also includes managing partner Erwin Rademakers. Jasper Verhoog and counsel Cathelijn Frederiks, who was a recent arrival from NautaDutilh, are also noted.

Baker McKenzie’s practice acts for a number of alternative lenders, including private equity firms, as well as traditional lenders. Its clients span the real estate, export finance, health care, renewable energy and transportation industries among others. Counsel Fedor Tanke and Philippe Steffens lead the practice.

Lexence’s team is led by Charles Destrée. Financing transactions and regulatory issues are areas of strength.

At Loyens & Loeff, the ‘strong, collaborative’ department regularly acts for financial institutions and corporations on domestic and international financing matters. Sietske van ‘t Hooft advised the European Investment Bank on the  €100m financing of the new Amphia Hospital in Breda. The team, which is headed by Kitty Lieverse, also includes Gianluca Kreuze and senior associates Kim Koops and Sabine Schoute.

Norton Rose Fulbright’s practice is able to leverage the firm's network of offices to act for lenders on cross-border transactions. Wouter Hertzberger and Gijs van Leeuwen are the practice heads and Paul Vine and Berend Crans are also noted. Clients include Dutch and international financial institutions.

At Simmons & Simmons, the group has a niche in real estate financing but also handles a wide range of financing. Marieke Driessen, Jan-Joost van Rijsbergen and counsel Frédérique Jacobse jointly head the practice. In recent work, van Rijsbergen is acting for ABN Amro Bank and Allianz on the financing of the acquisition by Amundi and Koramco of the Atrium office building at the South-Axis in Amsterdam. Dirk-Jan Gerrits and Vincent Engel were promoted to supervising and senior associate respectively.

Stek's team is 'pro-active and cooperative' and 'thinks in possibilities'.  Core strengths include corporate lending, healthcare financings and project financings. A major client is Rabobank, which the team advised on an acquisition finance transaction for Avedon of its double acquisition of Visions Connected and Viju. Key names include Maarten van der Graaf, Herman Wamelink, Frans Haak and Sharon Kaufmann, who are heads of team.

Stibbe’s group has been particularly active recently in the areas of acquisition finance, corporate lending, real estate finance, structured finance, commodity finance and project finance. Practice co-head Rein van Helden advised BlackRock on providing unitranche financing to Summit Partners pertaining to its acquisition of Normec. Fellow practice head Maarten de Bruin is also noted. Robert Steeg and Suzanne van Boheemen were promoted to counsel and senior associate respectively. Joannes de Bont is now with Bond Advocaten.

Van Doorne’s multidisciplinary team acts for clients including Dutch and international banks, alternative finance providers, including funds, and institutional investors. Co-head Stefan van Rossum acted as lead counsel to Aareal Bank as arranger of the financing of the acquisition by Vestas from DSV of two logistic properties located in the Netherlands and Finland. Fellow co-head Angelique Thiele is highly regarded and acted as lead counsel to Deutsche Hypo as lender on the project and acquisition financing provided to QP Amsterdam Property I.

CMS is noted for handling financing matters in the real estate, leisure and energy sectors, among others. Eduard Scheenstra, who heads the firm's banking and finance practice in the Netherlands, advised GreenOak Europe Secured Lending Holdings on the financing of the acquisition by subsidiaries of Cromwell and York Capital Management of a Dutch real estate portfolio. Senior associate Jesler Hartman Kok and deputy civil law notary Jan Joris van Kampen were new arrivals from NautaDutilh and Van Doorne.

Dentons' practice was bolstered by the arrival of Marcel Janssen and a team from Baker McKenzie in 2017. Janssen advises clients across the spectrum of real estate, project, acquisition, export, structured, trade and commodity finance. In recent work, the team is advising HSBC Bank plc on €635m-worth of real estate finance investment facilities to Chariot Top Group. Janssen and Jeroen den Hamer are the practice heads.

At Hogan Lovells International LLP, Wouter Jongen advised Intermediate Capital Group on the refinancing of Bergman Clinics. Jongen jointly heads the practice with Robert Masman, who has notable expertise in real estate and asset-backed structured financing matters. Senior associate Carola Houpst is also noted.