Loyens & Loeff - The Who's Who Legal 100 2012

What is the Who's Who Legal 100?

We name Loyens & Loeff as the world’s leading law firm for tax work for the second consecutive year in this edition: a staggering 26 lawyers from 11 offices appear in the corresponding chapter. A former head of the firm’s Paris office, Ronald Wijs is the chief tax contact at the firm’s Amsterdam office, where he is one of seven lawyers to be listed in this section. Wijs is noted for his work in European cross-border tax planning as well as his “excellent” investment funds practice. Five lawyers are recognised in the Rotterdam office, of whom international tax practice group chair Michiel van Kempen is “very well thought of” for his work in tax structuring and restructuring, particularly in real estate, M&A and finance matters. Recommended for his international and domestic tax matters encompassing M&A, corporate restructuring and structured finance, Xavier Clarebout heads the general tax practice group in the Brussels office, which fields a total of four lawyers in this section. Also listed in the Belgian capital is Christophe Laurent, who also earns a place in the real estate chapter along with three other Loyens & Loeff lawyers. The overlap of the firm’s real estate and tax teams is evidenced by such recent engagements as advising the REITs Nieuwe Steen Investments and Vastned Offices/Industrial on their contemplated merger, as well as advising CB Richard Ellis Group on the acquisition of ING Real Estate for a consideration of €69 million. Three lawyers from the Luxembourg office also rank highly in the tax section, among whom Peter Stalmanis particularly highly praised for his “outstanding” work in cross-border transactions. Further representatives from offices in Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and the US add to the firm’s market-leading tax department.

Brussels-based Peter Callens is recognised in three chapters: M&A, corporate governance and commercial litigation. A specialist in energy-related matters, Callens is described as “world class” for his dispute resolution work, both in and out of court, and he is regularly appointed as arbitrator in proceedings in Belgium. In the past year Loyens & Loeff has been active in numerous high-profile corporate transactions, including Capital One’s acquisition of ING Direct and Wittington Investments’ acquisition of De Bijenkorf. Alongside Callens in the M&A chapter, Rotterdam-based Freek Jonkhart is lauded for his work in joint ventures, cross-border transactions and corporate advice.

Loyens & Loeff recently advised the Carlyle Group LLC on the acquisition of AlpInvest Partners from PGGM and ABP Pension Fund, and the firm’s private equity and funds teams are well represented in the corresponding chapter. Mark van Dam is listed in the Amsterdam office, where his fund formation and corporate transactional work is praised by respondents to our survey. Representatives from the New York and Luxembourg offices also achieve recognition in this chapter.

Maurice Essers specialises in procurement law work for public authorities, utilities and private clients in a range of sectors, including health-care, transport, water and energy, and he is one of two Amsterdam-based lawyers at the firm to feature in the corresponding chapter. Joining him is competition and state aid law specialist and “leading light” Gert-Wim van de Meent.

Further listings in the management labour and employment, insurance, oil and gas and aviation sections illustrate the breadth of the firm’s skill-set and the “exceptionally strong” space it occupies in the global legal marketplace.