Dutch Firms De Brauw and NautaDutilh Break into European M&A Top 20
Both NautaDutilh and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek broke into the top 20 of firms with the largest transaction values in 2020, according to a new report from financial news and data firm Mergermarket.
NautaDutilh jumped 20 places in the ranking, up from 38 in 2019, to 18 in 2020, with a total deal value of $83,485 million.
Jan-Hein Bax, director business development, marketing and communications at NautaDutilh, told Law.com International that the M&A growth in 2020 took place across all the firm’s offices – Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, Rotterdam, London and New York – and both in private and public M&A.
“Maintaining excellent client and partner relations/communications also in difficult COVID times, in combination with a M&A team that works in true cooperation with other parts of the firm (tax, employment to name two) made us grow and this will continue in 2021,” Bax said. “Our growing reputation supports this rise of course.”
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek came in one spot behind NautaDutilh at 19th place, climbing 11 places from 2019 and with a total deal value of $78,772 million.
“As the leading independent Amsterdam-based law firm, we believe that [our ranking] reflects our market position; the strengths and success of some of our Dutch clients, such as JustEatTakaway.com; and the importance of the Netherlands as a neutral and attractive jurisdiction for international business combinations,” said Arne Grimme, head of the firm’s M&A practice.
He pointed to the pending merger of automotive groups Groupe PSA and Fiat Chrysler into a $50 billion merger as an example.
Two separate De Brauw teams are advising the Peugeot family and Bpifrance, two reference shareholders of Groupe PSA, on their position in the new Dutch parent company.
“We expect our M&A activity to remain strong throughout 2021: our pipeline is promising with numerous significant inbound as well as outbound transactions being considered, notwithstanding the market volatility,” Grimme added.
Read More:
Mega Deals Lift Law Firm Trio to Top of 2020 Europe Rankings
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