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While the sometimes obtrusively advertised focus of some market parties on sustainability has over the past few years been regarded as lip service by many, sustainability has by now swiftly become a factor that can really no longer be ignored by financiers, investors and borrowers alike. It is clear that many stakeholders are willing to and are now feeling the urgency to apply an ESG (environment, social and governance) policy. Real estate, in particular, is a sector where sustainability can play a specific and crucial role. In addition thereto, legislators and supervisory authorities are setting new green and sustainability standards and imposing legislative requirements, compliance with which is also resonating in real estate finance. Still, many stakeholders appear to be uncertain as to the exact "why and how" of these legislative requirements. This blog briefly sets out the background of sustainability requirements that are particularly relevant in the context of commercial real estate finance and, accordingly, the bankability of commercial real estate investments and sheds light on what to expect in this regard going forward.

The fourth edition of Technology M&A provides an overview of the various factors affecting technology M&A transactions, including international expert analysis in key areas of law, practice and regulation for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners, and company directors and officers. 

This blog is not a strictly legal blog. It is nevertheless about a topic firmly to do with legal documentation, in response to a question we are often asked , in particular by our non-Dutch lender client base: What loan documentation should we use to document our Dutch commercial real estate loan?

KLM became the sole shareholder of Martinair at the end of 2008. From 2009 onwards, the operational and commercial activities of the cargo divisions of Martinair and KLM were gradually integrated, resulting in practically all Martinair cargo activities having been transferred to KLM. Later, both divisions were commercially integrated. At the end of 2011 Martinair's passenger division was closed. Since 2014, Martinair only acted as operating carrier with KLM as its sole client. Eventually, most of Martinair's activities were transferred to KLM. Martinair ground staff became employed with KLM on 1 January 2014 and continued performing similar activities as they did when still employed with Martinair. As per November 2011, a group of only 71 Martinair pilots (some of the passenger division) became employed with KLM.

Lexology Getting the Deal Through is delighted to publish the third edition of Healthcare M&A. It provides international expert analysis in key areas of law, practice and regulation for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners, and company directors and officers. The guides purpose is to provide an overview of the various factors effecting healthcare M&A transactions.

With the usual focus on getting to documentation phase and getting the deal done, financiers may overlook or occasionally perhaps avoid discussing certain loan terms with borrowers in more detail at termsheet phase. Experience shows though that paying more attention to these particular loan conditions, so that parties are already on the same page as to what exactly is required at termsheet phase, tends to ultimately save time on extensive negotiations during documentation phase and manage borrowers’ expectations. In this blog we will highlight a number of items which we often see overlooked at tersmheet phase, highlighting the importance of paying particular attention to the items sooner rather than later. At least a number of these may seem obvious, but are nevertheless often not dealt with. On that basis, we have listed our top seven (in random order) below. We would be interested in learning from your experience as well, so your feedback and additions are most welcome.

If a financier considers financing a development, a certain and timely exit is essential. To achieve this, the project must be finished, preferably within the agreed budget and period. For this to happen it is, in turn, essential that the contractor working on the project completes its job as agreed. This seems obvious and simple. Nevertheless, a lot of things can happen along the way. Where these lead to a gap in the budget, which the investor cannot or will not bridge, contractors working on Dutch developments have a relatively strong position based on the Dutch law statutory right of retention (builders lien), which typically even ranks prior to the development financier’s mortgage, as well as a general right to suspend working on the development until getting paid. Both could seriously affect the position of the financier and ultimately the end result for the contractor might still be that some of its invoices remain unpaid.

For the first time, a restructuring plan has been confirmed under the new Court Approved Restructuring Plan Act (Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord, or WHOA). This court confirmation illustrates how a "Dutch Scheme" comes about in practice. In this article our restructuring specialists Jelmer Baukema and Willemijn Bouman briefly discuss the court confirmation.