Finance Monthly Deal Maker Awards 2015 Edition

14 www.finance-monthly.com DEAL MAKER OF THE YEAR - BELGIUM Fiets! group acquisition of Hans Struijk from International Bike Group Chosen for his involvement in the following transaction: BART LINTERMANS Head o f t he M&A prac t i ce a t Quinz Bart Lintermans heads the Quinz M&A practice and as such is specialized in M&A, commercial transactions and Belgian company law. During the last 17 years, Bart Lintermans has applied this expertise in various industries, but particularly in the area of life sciences and real estate. He also advises (international) private equity funds on their acquisitions and divestitures throughout Belgium and cross-border. In the framework of the liquidation of Holding Communal SA Gemeentelijke Holding NV, which constitutes the largest insolvency in Belgium ever, Quinz is appointed co-liquidator, and as such Bart Lintermans is responsible for realizing the estimated EUR 800 million worth of assets. He has also been appointed as Board member of Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA), Belgium’s second largest commercial airport. Bart Lintermans started his career at Linklaters after which he joined the US law firm Jones Day in Brussels in the M&A/Real Estate department. Chambers recommends him as a “skilled and pragmatic lawyer” while Legal 500 refers to him as “a real deal-maker”. Bart Lintermans is licensed to practice in Belgium and in New York. Education New York University School of Law, LL.M. (BAEF and NYU Law Fellowships) Duke University School of Law KU Leuven, Belgium, LL.B. and JD (cum laude) Exper tise M&A, Real Estate, Insolvency & Restructuring Languages Dutch English French About Bar t Lintermans Quinz advised the Fiets! group on its acquisition of the largest Dutch bike shop chain (Hans Struijk) from International Bike Group (a Dutch retailing group held by NPM Capital). The acquisition was structured as an asset purchase of 15 bike shops in the Netherlands and related activities (including on-line sale). As a result of this acquisition, Fiets! increased its total number of bike shops from 11 up to 26, and became the largest bike retail chain in the Benelux. The acquisition was funded partly by bank financing (ING Bank and BNP Paribas Fortis Bank) and partly by a new equity injection pursuant to a pre-closing capital increase. Bart Lintermans and Klaas Thibaut acted as the lead legal counsel for Fiets! in the acquisition itself as well as in relation to the financing side. In addition to the traditional challenges encountered in any cross-border deal, this transaction was particular because of the very short lead times parties needed to respect in view of the seasonal nature of the business. We have seen an increased M&A activity in 2015 and we expect a continuation of this in 2016. For companies and private equity investors, the window of opportunity for strategic cross-border M&A is now. The structural drivers, cyclical trends such as equity prices and economic conditions such as GDP growth are ripe for deals. Transaction Repor t WINNER: Quinz, Medialaan 28b | 1800 Vilvoorde (Brussels) | Belgium Tel: +32 (0)2 255 73 80 | Email: bart.lintermans@quinz.be