Biography: Mergers and Acquisitions

Willem Calkoen specialises in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securities offerings and corporate governance.

Transactions on which Willem Calkoen has worked include: the acquisitions by Stork of the healthy parts of the Fokker Aircraft manufacturer, the acquisition by ICI of Unilever Specialty Chemicals Businesses and the listing of Smit Internationale NV. He advised the 700 shareholders of Vendex during its listing and EADS NV on its structure as a Dutch NV listed in Paris and Frankfurt. He has advised in several takeovers of listed companies, including Van Melle and Merrill Lynch in the takeover of Haslemere. He advised AES on its refinancing of an electricity plant in Puerto Rico.

Willem Calkoen was chairman between 1988 and 1992 of committee G (business organisations of the section on business law of the International Bar Association), which deals with mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. He was chairman of the section on business law in 1997 and 1998. He has written articles on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate governance, in which area he defended a thesis in 2011, and is active in this area. He started as a lawyer with NautaDutilh in 1972 and became partner in 1980.

NautaDutilh, with offices in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, London and New York, is an independent firm concentrating on Dutch and Belgian law. In Rotterdam, 25 partners work in the mergers and acquisitions areas, collaborating in an integrated way with the partners and associates in the other offices. There is also integration with all the specialised surrounding areas related to mergers and acquisitions, such as tax, environment, employment, IT and IP law and corporate litigation.

Other Practice Areas

Willem J L Calkoen also features in the following practice areas:

• Corporate Governance