Corporate and M&A

Liedekerke is proud to have one of the largest and most trusted M&A practices in Belgium, ready to bring all types of transactions—from the most common to the most complex—to a successful completion.

Our team provides clients with business-centered solutions in all Corporate and M&A matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate governance issues, corporate reorganisations, corporate advice, joint ventures, and corporate litigation.

Our team has developed extensive experience in multi-jurisdictional and cross-disciplinary coordination over half a century of practice. We have forged strong relationships with other top law firms in the foreign jurisdictions in which we most commonly work, collaborating with these professional peers on a regular basis.

Liedekerke has extensive and proven expertise in Corporate and M&A matters. Our team has been involved in numerous high-profile transactions in recent years, and our expertise has been publicly recognized again and again by clients, peers, and prestigious legal directories.

Corporate transactions require specific, in-depth knowledge to ensure the best possible outcomes can be secured. All legal services that we provide are practical and Business-centred. We are stringent in maintaining high partner involvement in all our cases. We also ensure that the person of contact on each case—a dedicated “client care partner”—is directly involved in all legal work that is performed for that client, even when it occurs across multiple Liedekerke practices.

Our Services

• Mergers and Acquisitions: Covering all types of negotiated transactions, including share deals, asset deals, setting up of joint ventures, and corporate reorganisations pre- and post-transaction), whether domestic or cross-border.

• Private equity and venture capital: Assisting VC investors, private equity funds and their portfolio companies on negotiating and documenting all types of investments (buyouts and minority stakes) and exits, as well as in managing their portfolios and the set-up of management incentive plans.

• Corporate governance: Assisting companies with setting up, reviewing and restructuring their governance, from devising new structures to implementing them.

• Corporate reorganizations: Providing practical and tailor-made solutions to support group reorganizations, taking into account not only all the legal constraints (corporate, tax, employment, regulatory issues, etc.) but also business needs.

• General corporate advisory: Addressing all general corporate matters, such as setting up companies or branches, advising on (minority) shareholders’ rights, conflict of interest rules in corporate bodies, personal liability of board members, share capital increases, dividend distributions, corporate housekeeping, etc.

• Joint-ventures: Advising on all aspects of Belgian and cross-border joint ventures and business alliances.

• Litigation: Advising on corporate litigation such as shareholders’ disputes, enforcement of joint venture agreements, forced purchase of shares, etc.

Our Team

Liedekerke boasts one of the most experienced Corporate and M&A teams in the market. Our team has gathered unparalleled experience in the full scope of corporate law through our acting on “milestone” matters—particularly large and complex cases—and driven transactions across a wide range of industries.  We have a proven track-record of successful outcomes in an array of cases where clients have sought our counsel on everything from restructuring, to governance, to litigation.

Decisions regarding Corporate and M&A matters cannot be made without considering ancillary legal aspects. Whenever necessary, we collaborate with the other departments within our firm to leverage their expertise within M&A matters. As one of the largest independent law firms in Belgium, we rely on strong teams across all specialty areas, enabling us to ensure the right experts are available to weigh in whenever their experience is needed.

Over the years, our team has developed a deep experience in cross-disciplinary coordination giving us the ability to ‘spot’ the problem well in advance and enabling us to tackle any legal issue that might be raised during a project, whenever necessary and without delay. Our multidisciplinary team works in an integrated manner, looking after our clients' holistic interests.

Our Relevant Experience

• Assisting Kiwa with its acquisition of Vincotte,, including representation before the Belgian Competition Authority

• Assisting in the  acquisition by BNP Paribas Group and Axepta BNP Paribas Benelux SA/NV of certain business activities in POS acquiring and terminal provision/management from Worldline

• Assisting Aquila Capital with its investment in the 25 MW Ruien Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), one of the largest BESS projects that is being developed in Belgium. Having assisted on multiple BESS projects, Liedekerke is one of the very few law firms with deep expertise in the legal challenges and solutions for the development of a BESS in Belgium

• Assisting 3i portfolio company Havea, European leader in natural health products, in the acquisition of Ixx Pharma

• Assisting Essling Capital and inWebo, a major, pan-European player in the cybersecurity market, with the strategic acquisition of TrustBuilder Corporation, specializing in Identity and Access Management solutions

• Advising DST Global and Redpoint Ventures on their investment in Deliverect, a scale-up restaurant with online ordering services through its cloud software as part of a USD 65 million Series C equity financing round

• Assisting capital venture fund Adjacent V2 LP with its investment in DESelect BV, a Belgian startup active in the field of data and marketing

• Advising Veolia in connection with the purchase of 100% of the shares of the company Upgrade Bio-Energy NV (formerly known as NPG Bio II), a company operating an organic waste biogas plant in the Antwerp harbor

• Assisting Cohabs in its EUR 58m Series-B (debt and equity) capital round