Arntzen de Besche > Oslo, Norway > Firm Profile

Arntzen de Besche > The Legal 500 Rankings

Norway > Banking and finance (including shipping finance) Tier 1

Arntzen de Besche‘s practice fields a ‘highly skilled team with in-depth knowledge of banking and banking products‘. Led by Trond Kildal, the group is well known for advising oil and gas clients on large-scale exploration and production financings, and also has notable expertise in assisting Norwegian and international financial institutions, property funds and investors with real estate financings. Karl Rosén is a key name for financial regulatory work, while Vidar Løhre assists with debt capital matters. Siril Visnes specialises in representing borrowers and lenders in syndicated and bilateral financings across a broad range of industries.

Norway > Employment Tier 1

Led by Frode Martin Toftevåg, who is ‘a competent employment lawyer, always hands on, and provides clear, timely and very sound advice‘, the employment practice at Arntzen de Besche is praised by clients for its ‘strong knowledge and competence within Norwegian labour law‘. The group has a strong presence in the aviation industry, and experience advising on collective labour law issues. The team is also well-versed in assisting clients from the media sector. Sven Iver Steen specialises in pensions issues, and firm managing partner Håvard Sandnes has expertise in handling business transfer matters. Christian Backe assists with transfers of undertakings, downsizings, reorganisations and whistleblowing issues.  The ‘exceptional‘ Knut-Marius Sture is also active in the group.

Norway > EU and competition Tier 1

Arntzen de Besche‘s EU and competition practice is home to a ‘strong team with unique industry knowledge‘. The department covers the full range of matters, spanning merger control work, competition litigation, investigations and cartel cases, and state aid mandates. The client roster includes names in the food, construction, transport, oil and gas and pharmaceuticals industries. Svein Terje Tveit is ‘a very skilled competition lawyer‘, with expertise in EU and EEA regulatory work and complex disputes; he shares leadership of the practice with Espen I Bakken, who focuses on state aid and public procurement work, and merger control expert Stein Ove Solberg. Senior lawyer Frida May Behrens regularly handles antitrust and public procurement matters.

Norway > Capital markets Tier 2

Arntzen de Besche is well known for acting for issuers, international corporates, investors and financial institutions on high-profile ECM mandates; recent instructions include IPOs and private placement issues. The team is also singled out for its strength in debt work, and regularly advises on matters involving cross-border elements. Vidar Løhre is very experienced in advising oil and gas companies on debt capital markets matters, while Henrik Braavold Johansen assists with IPOs and transactions relating to listed companies. Former practice head Marianne Lind Sahl moved to Advokatfirmaet Schjødt in January 2022.

Norway > Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 2

Arntzen de Besche‘s team of ‘highly experienced commercial transaction lawyers‘ is well known for its expertise in the energy sector, and regularly handles transactional work for oil and gas and renewables clients. M&A specialist Per A Dagslet stands out for his expertise in large-scale, cross-border transactions, and Jon Martin Atkinson focuses on corporate law and M&A work. Per Kristian Ramsland specialises in oil and gas mandates, and also assists venture capital and private equity companies. Lars Horgen Hinze counts asset management work as a core strength. Former practice head Marianne Lind Sahl moved to Advokatfirmaet Schjødt in January 2022.

Norway > Construction Tier 2

The team at Arntzen de Besche is ‘highly skilled and holds great knowledge of the construction industry‘. Offshore and onshore project construction mandates are a recognised pillar of strength for the department, which also fields expertise in integrated project deliveries, contractual matters, construction disputes and procurement issues. Healthcare and infrastructure companies, hospitals, contractors, developers and public sector entities feature on the group’s client roster. Trondheim-based Ole Skeidsvoll Moe is ‘a first-class lawyer‘, and heads up the practice with litigator Wenche Maartmann-Moe in Oslo. Jon Gresseth specialises in public procurement matters and regularly advises on hospital, road and healthcare construction projects. Other noted practitioners are highly regarded litigation expert Knud Jacob Knudsen, the ‘exceptional‘ Tor Kristian Lånke, and Stian Heimdal, who has ‘extensive knowledge of contractor operations‘.

Norway > Dispute resolution Tier 2

The team at Arntzen de Besche reports a significant uptick in contentious insurance mandates and corporate litigation, and continues to act in high-profile oil and gas disputes, professional liability claims and contentious construction matters. Andreas Nordby is ‘a brilliant lawyer‘ and regularly represents clients in the media, TMT, food, pharmaceuticals and commodity trade sectors. Terje Granvang is active in arbitration, and is well known for his expertise in director’s and professional liability work. Reidar Smedsvig is a key name in the Stavanger office. In 2021, Eivind Landmark Tandrevold re-joined the practice from an in-house role and now leads the practice, while Vidar Riksfjord joined from Advokatfirmaet CLP DA.

Norway > Insurance Tier 2

Sven Iver Steen heads up the department at Arntzen de Besche, which is well known for its full-service insurance offering. The team has a solid track record in assisting prominent insurance companies with high-profile claims, and is noted for its strong capabilities in professional liability work, D&O insurance, and pension sector issues. Oil and gas, aviation, offshore and shipping are other sector strengths for the group. Karl Rosén is noted for his expertise in financial services regulatory matters. Associate Tobias Behncke is also singled out. Linn Kvade Rannekleiv has left the firm for an in-house role.

Norway > Offshore construction and shipbuilding Tier 2

The offshore construction team at Arntzen de Besche stands out for its ‘great legal knowledge‘. Led by Karl Erik Navestad, the group is well known for advising clients from the aquaculture and fisheries and oil and gas sectors on a range of non-contentious and contentious matters. Shipping work is also prominent in the department’s workload. Ole Skeidsvoll Moe advises on offshore oil and gas projects, and Anders Rødland is praised for his ‘excellent commercial understanding‘.

Norway > Oil and gas Tier 2

Led by Karl Erik Navestad from the Oslo office, Arntzen de Besche‘s team garners praise for its ‘dedication and knowledge‘ and undertakes the whole range of oil and gas matters, with particular expertise in advising construction and contractor-side clients on offshore-related mandates. Rune Omdahl is active in M&A, licensing, financing and production sharing agreements (PSA), with a key focus on upstream matters. The ‘reliable‘ Anders Rødland is a key name in Stavanger for high-value disputes in the oil and gas sector.

Norway > Public procurement Tier 2

Arntzen de Besche’s ‘well-balanced‘ public procurement team is ‘always accessible‘, ‘reliable‘ and ‘easy to work with‘. The group has notable strength in the construction and life sciences sectors, and represents developers, contractors and suppliers in contractual issues, project implementations and litigation, to name a few areas. Espen I Bakken ‘provides high-quality legal advice‘, and heads up the practice alongside litigation expert Svein Terje Tveit and Stein Ove Solberg, who has established strength in competition law. Tor Kristian Lånke is a key name for construction mandates. Public procurement specialist Gro Amdal joined the team from CMS Kluge in 2022.

Norway > Real estate Tier 2

Arntzen de Besche advises on the full range of real estate matters, including lease agreements, residential and commercial project development work, regulatory matters and tax and VAT issues. The team reports an uptick in joint venture mandates within the real estate sector, and has also been kept busy handling large transactions involving substantial portfolios; private equity work is another core area of strength for the practice. Hans Henrik Kværne is a highly regarded practitioner, and department head Thomas Øslebø specialises in handling large-scale residential and urban development projects. The ‘pragmatic‘ Eilif S Koch is an ‘excellent negotiator‘. Other key names to note are Trondheim-based Erlend Solberg and senior associate Erlend Husebye Haug.

Norway > Tax Tier 2

The group at Arntzen de Besche often works in tandem with the firm’s M&A practice to lend advice on the tax aspects of transactional mandates. Key sector strengths for the team include the insurance, banking and financing, aviation, shipping, oil and gas and petroleum industries, with tax litigation forming another core pillar of expertise. Eyvind Sandvik regularly handles international tax work, restructurings and tax treaties; he jointly heads up the department with Rune Tjomsås Andersen, who focuses on tax and company law matters and is very experienced in advising oil and gas sector clients on tax issues.

Norway > Electricity and renewable energy Tier 3

Arntzen de Besche‘s department fields expertise across the spectrum of electricity matters, with particular strength in electricity financing work, and is also widely recognised for its solid track record in advising on hydro power and wind power projects. The team stands out as ‘excellent in EU law‘, with practice co-head Espen Bakken focusing on M&A and competition law. Practice co-head Odd-Harald Berg Wasenden is praised for his ‘outstanding understanding of energy market regulation‘.

Norway > Fishing and aquaculture Tier 3

Arntzen de Besche leverages the strength of the firm’s capital markets, transactional and dispute resolution practices to assist with a broad range of fishing and aquaculture matters. The team’s recent workload includes capital markets transactions, large-scale construction projects and M&A matters. Real estate expert Anders Dyrseth heads up the department, and brings experience in corporate matters and contentious issues to the group. Jon Martin Atkinson is a key contact for M&A mandates, and has particular experience advising producer and supplier-side clients in the aquaculture industry. Ole Skeidsvoll Moe has expertise in litigation, construction and licensing matters. All named individuals are based in Trondheim.

Norway > Insolvency and corporate recovery Tier 3

Arntzen de Besche‘s practice stands out for its ‘lengthy experience in working with insolvency and corporate recovery‘. Joar Grimsbu and Trond Kildal jointly lead the team, which has a solid track record in assisting clients in the construction, transport, real estate, media and entertainment, and banking and finance sectors with asset recovery litigation, bankruptcy proceedings and debt settlement work, to name a few areas of expertise. Other key practitioners include Siril Visnes, who handles restructuring matters for creditors, and Stein Knut Tonning, who regularly advises on the administration of complex bankruptcy estates.

Norway > Intellectual property Tier 3

Litigation expert Andreas Nordby heads up the practice at Arntzen de Besche, which is well known for advising clients in the technology, telecoms and energy sectors on the IP aspects of transactions, as well as contentious IP issues. The client roster also fields names from the e-commerce, life sciences, media, automotive and retail industries. Trade mark, design and patent infringement cases have been prominent in the group’s recent workload, as well as unfair competition work. Tommy Dahlen is a key contact for intellectual property rights matters, and senior lawyer Christopher Hestnes is also noted.

Norway > TMT Tier 3

At Arntzen de Besche, department head Andreas Nordby has expertise in dispute resolution, and provides advice to a roster of media, IT, telecoms and technology clients on contentious matters; marketing law is another core focus of Nordby’s practice. Per Kristian Ramsland and Knut Martinsen specialise in M&A and capital markets work, and Tommy Dahlen regularly assists with transactional mandates.