Stek acts for Bancroft Private Equity
2012-05
Bancroft Private Equity has acquired an equity stake in Graniser Granit Seramik, a leading Turkish ceramics and granite producer. The investment will be made through the private equity firm's third fund, Bancroft 3 LP, which is targeting total commitments of EUR 250 million for investments in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Maarten van der Graaf and
Claudia Beele advised Bancroft on the transaction.
Stek earns Chambers recognition
2012-05
Stek is recommended in the 2012 edition of the prestigious directory Chambers Europe for all of its practice areas. Four of Stek’s attorneys have been named “Leaders in their field”:
Jan Erik Janssen (Energy & Natural Resources: Regulatory and Competition/European Law),
Maarten van der Graaf (Corporate/M&A, Private Equity and Banking & Finance),
Jeroen Timmermans (Transportation: Aviation) and
Ruben Elkerbout (Competition/European Law). Click
here for the rankings of Stek.
Stek successful for Liander in appeal municipality of Amsterdam
2012-04
On 11 April 2012 the Industry and Appeals Tribunal (CBb) confirmed that the municipality of Amsterdam and not the energy distribution company Liander is responsible for the protective earthing of the public lightning in Amsterdam. Click
here for the ruling of the CBb (in Dutch).
Liander (
www.liander.nl) was represented by
Jan Erik Janssen and
Stephanie Goossens.
Stek presents the Competition Law Platform 2012
2012-04
Jan Erik Janssen and
Ruben Elkerbout have devised and shaped the
Competition Law Platform 2012. This new initiative originated from Stek and the business community. During the Competition Law Platform on 12 April 2012 the leading individuals of the competition practice will meet. The purpose of the Competition Law Platform 2012 is to share best practices between policy makers, competition authorities and the business community in a pragmatic and interactive manner. The Competition Law Platform 2012 has everything to offer, including practical guidance for self-assessment, commercial insight regarding competition law and contacts, for the participants to take the right decisions in the field of competition law.
Stek advises on the merger of Eco-movement and JUIZZ
2012-04
Eco-movement and JUIZZ, two companies which are specialized in electric scooters and electric bicycles, recently merged their activities in a new company, named
The Good Movement. As a result of this merger, Eco-movement and JUIZZ created a market leader in the area of electric mobility in the Netherlands. The parties continue to operate their business under the brands
JUIZZ and
Eco-movement, where JUIZZ will mainly focus on the sale of electric scooters, electric bicycles and electric rear carrier tricycles, while Eco-movement will operate as a project office to stimulate the use of electric scooters in the Netherlands by way of projects such as
Electric Heroes and
Oplaadpalen (i.e. charge posts). Other activities of The Good Movement concern the online shops for the sale of electric scooters, electric bicycles and electric rear carrier tricycles by way of the websites
Elektrische Scooter Winkel.nl,
Elektrische Fiets Winkel.nl and
Elektrische Bakfiets Winkel.nl. Eelco Bijkerk advised Eco-movement and JUIZZ in this transaction.
Stek advises Petercam N.V. in management buy out
2012-04
The Belgian bank Petercam N.V. has sold its shares in its subsidiary Petercam Nederland N.V. to the management of Petercam Nederland. The name of Petercam Nederland has been changed into Nobel Vermogensbeheer N.V. Petercam N.V. will, through the opening of a branch office in the Netherlands, continue the brokerage and corporate finance activities of the former Petercam Nederland. Petercam N.V. is specialized in the promotion of Dutch and Belgian listed companies towards (non) foreign investors through its offices in Brussels, Amsterdam and New York. Please click
here for the press release on the transaction (in Dutch).
Machteld van Oosten and
Maarten van der Graaf assisted Petercam N.V.
Stek advises Lemnis in joint venture with NTL Electronics
2012-04
Dutch independent LED player Lemnis Lighting B.V., producer of the Pharox LED bulb, and Indian lighting giant NTL Electronics have merged their LED activities in a new company, named NTL-Lemnis. The new company is fully operational as per 1 April 2012 and has its headquarters in the Netherlands. NTL-Lemnis will primarily focus Europe, Africa and India. Lemnis Lighting has a vast experience in design, innovation and commercialization of LED lighting. NTL is strong in the field of development, production and logistics. Both parties have been working closely together for several years already. In 2020 more than 60% of all general lighting in the world will be based on LED technology, a recent report by McKinsey estimates. Please click
here for the press release.
Machteld van Oosten,
Maarten van der Graaf and
Guy Pegels assisted Lemnis in this transaction.
Stek successful for Stedin in civil law procedure regarding damages claim
2012-03
Stek successfully represented Liander N.V. (‘Liander’) in a civil law procedure before the Court of Arnhem regarding a damages claim. A customer claimed he had suffered damage as a result of a power failure. In accordance with earlier rulings by the Dispute Committee for Energy and Water, the Court of Arnhem ruled that when the cause of a power failure lies at a point in the electricity grid behind which several electricity connections are located, the required causal connection between the power failure and the damage cannot be established when damage claims are made by merely one or very few customers. The court therefore rejected the customer’s claim. Click
here for the verdict in Dutch.
Liander (
www.liander.nl) was represented by
Martha Brinkman.
Stek represents ABN AMRO in financing Rituals
2012-03
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. has financed the Rituals group with 5-years working capital credit and guarantees facilities. Rituals is a retail chain trading in luxury home and body cosmetics. Rituals has more than 175 shops globally.
Frans Haak and
Guy Pegels represented ABN AMRO in this transaction.
Stek represents Gebr. Engelke in alleged flour cartel
2012-03
By decision on the objections of 14 March 2012 the Dutch Competition Authority (NMa) has lowered the fines imposed on a number of parties to an alleged cartel in the flour sector from approximately EUR 81 million to approximately EUR 66 million. The fine for the German miller Gebr. Engelke has been lowered from approximately EUR 7,7 million to approximately EUR 3,5 million. Click
here for the press release of the NMa (in Dutch).
Following their successful representation of Dutch miller Krijger Molenaars prior to the objections phase (see recent developments of 2010-12)
Ruben Elkerbout and
Jan Erik Janssen represent Engelke from the objections phase onwards.
Stek successful for DNWB in abolishing discriminatory transport rates TenneT
2012-03
The Industry Trade and Appeals Tribunal (CBb) and the Dutch Competition Authority (NMa) have honoured the objections of Delta Netwerkbedrijf (DNWB) against the distinction in the transport rates that Dutch transmission system operator TenneT made between regional grid operators on the one hand and industrial users on the other hand. This for DNWB disadvantageous distinction has now been abolished in the transport rates from 2007 onwards.
DNWB was represented in the various administrative proceedings by
Jan Erik Janssen en
Stephanie Goossens.
Stek assists Etteplan in the acquisition of Tedopres International
2012-03
Finnish listed company Etteplan Oyj acquired Tedopres International B.V. Tedopres International provides innovative methods for the creation and distribution of technical product information. Its customers are global aviation and defence industry companies, equipment manufacturers in medical technology as well as consumer electronics manufacturers based in Europe, Asia and North-America. After the acquisition Etteplan's service solutions will cover all the sectors of technical product information from content creation to distribution. Please click
here for more information on Etteplan and the transaction.
Etteplan was represented by
Jeroen Timmermans,
Claudia Beele,
Eelco Bijkerk,
Guy Pegels and
Wilko Wolbers.
Stek acts for FMO on G-20 SME Finance Challenge
2012-02
In cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Dutch development bank FMO has provided EUR 8 million of grant financing to 3 winners of the G-20 SME Finance Challenge, a competition aimed at Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. For more information about the G-20 SME Finance Challenge, please click
here.
Maarten van der Graaf advised FMO.
Stek represents NIBC Bank in financing Hunter Douglas
2012-02
NIBC Bank N.V. has financed Hunter Douglas N.V. with a four year revolving facility. The facility serves general corporate and working capital purposes. Hunter Douglas is the world leader in window coverings (Luxaflex) and a major manufacturer of architectural products (Luxalon).
Hunter Douglas is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange.
Frans Haak represented NIBC Bank in this transaction.
Developments in settlement of mass claims
2012-02
A recent Dutch court ruling confirmed the international application of the Dutch Collective Settlement of Mass Claims Act (WCAM). Please click
here for more information on the WCAM and the court ruling.
Stek represents Deutsche Bank and Rabobank in refinancing Kuiken
2012-01
Deutsche Bank Nederland N.V. and Coöperatieve Rabobank Noordoostpolder-Urk U.A. have refinanced Kuiken Groep and its Dutch and foreign subsidiaries. Kuiken group consists of leading distribution companies of construction equipment and crane & material handling. Kuiken group owns the distribution rights of reputable brands like Volvo, Sennebogen and Sandvik. Kuiken is active in the Benelux.
Guy Pegels,
Machteld van Oosten and
Frans Haak represented the banks in this transaction.
