Stibbe

Belgium’s recent coalition agreement aims to simplify regulations for Private PRICAFs—a specific form of Belgian investment fund—boosting venture capital. Sophie Brenard, Matthieu Allard, Giovanni Smet, and Sarah Gallo discuss the growing interest from major investment players in setting up collective investment funds in Belgium and the potential impact of these regulatory changes. Click here to read their contribution: https://stibbe.law/4i2ZXzg #InvestmentFunds #BelgianPrivateEquity #PRICAF

On February 27th, 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered an important decision on algorithmic transparency. It has confirmed the existence of a “right of explanation” in case of automated decision making, and it introduced the right for courts and authorities to obtain information protected by trade secrets in order to balance these interests with the data subject’s rights. The impact on organisations using AI systems to make an automated decision regarding an individual will be significant. Erik Valgaeren and Thibau Duquin elaborate on the judgment, its consequences as well as its challenges for businesses in our latest blog post: Click the link to read more: https://stibbe.law/41FtAkv

Jan Bogaert en Florent Volckaert, advocaten in onze Corporate and M&A praktijk, delen hun inzichten over het digitaal organiseren van algemene vergaderingen in de reeks "Jaarverslagen en algemene vergaderingen: dit moet u weten", gepubliceerd op de website van De Tijd. Lees hier meer: https://lnkd.in/g93JfhfR ---------- Jan Bogaert et Florent Volckaert, avocats au sein de notre département Corporate and M&A, partagent leurs perspectives sur l’organisation virtuelle des assemblées générales dans la série "Rapports annuels et assemblées générales : ce qu'il faut savoir", publiée sur le site de L'Echo. Lisez-en plus ici : https://lnkd.in/gnbWywgJ

Stibbe successfully assisted Goed on the sale of its pharmaceutical retail and wholesale business to Multipharma. At the end of April 2024, it was announced that the patient cooperative Multipharma would take over the pharmacies of healthcare retailer Goed. Goed was looking for a buyer for its pharmacy activities in order to fully focus on strengthening its home care services. After receiving approval from the Belgian Competition Authority (BMA), the acquisition was recently completed. The agreement between Goed Farma CVSO and Multipharma CV includes the acquisition of 88 pharmacies, the activities of the pharmaceutical wholesale business, and the supporting services. Stibbe team: Pascal Vanden Borre, Sophie Van Besien, Elisabeth Matthys, Erik Valgaeren, Giovanni Smet, Esther Everaert, Eva Van keirsbilck, Juliette Lansen, Jan Proesmans, Frederik Dudal, Caroline Jansen, Jan Joos https://stibbe.law/41DdSq6 https://lnkd.in/e-ACG3mD

Stibbe advised the Belgian-listed company Proximus on the €128 million sale of its datacentres business to Datacenter United. The transaction consists of the incorporation of a new company to which four datacentres around Brussels at three sites including real estate, infrastructure, supplier contracts, and the majority of the housing customer contracts are transferred. Proximus sold 100% of the shares in this newly incorporated entity to Datacenter United (DCU Invest), which is in turn owned by TINC, a Belgium-based infrastructure investment company Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited, a UK-listed infrastructure investment company and Friso Haringsma. Stibbe also advised on the long-term services contract whereby going forward, Datacenter United will provide colocation and datacentre services to the Proximus Group for a period of at least 10 years. We congratulate Proximus, TINC, Datacenter United, Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited and Mr. Haringsma on the successful completion of this transaction and are proud to have contributed to its success. Our multidisciplinary team was led by Erik Valgaeren and Stefan Odeurs, and further involved Elisabeth Matthys, Matthias Maselis, Guan Schaiko (he/him/his), Philip De Roo, Jan Proesmans, Carolien Michielsen, Elmo Goossens, Nina Coussement, Frederik Dudal, Jan Joos, Marie Boomert, Sanne van Esch, Laura Hofströssler, Lucie Monfils, Thibau Duquin, and Edouard Vandewiele https://stibbe.law/4h6JEA0

Meet Stibbe at #MIPIM in Cannes from 11-14 March 2025. 📅 A delegation from our Brussels, Amsterdam, and Luxembourg offices will be attending the event. Reach out to our team if you would like to catch up. Stibbe team: Matthias Maselis, Anneleen Quirynen, Rony Vermeersch, Wim Panis, Guan Schaiko (he/him/his), Jan Bouckaert, Lothar Van Driessche, Benoit Kohl, Boris Cammelbeeck MRE, Maarten de Bruin, Johan Vrolijk, Rutger van Asbeck, Bernard Beerens, Victorien Hemery, Benjamin Marthoz

De nieuwe Belgische federale regering, die zichzelf een echte “hervormingsregering” noemt, heeft ook op het gebied van publiekrecht hervormingen gepland. Onze publiekrecht-experts Nathanaelle Kiekens ,Frederik Vandendriessche, Elise Myin, en Devin Kumpen lichten enkele belangrijke plannen toe die de federale regering de komende vijf jaar op publiekrechtelijk vlak wil realiseren. Lees de blogpost hier 👉 : https://stibbe.law/42UsdiU #Publiekrecht #Regeerakkoord

Stibbe advised Investindustrial in relation to (i) the issuance by its portfolio company CEME S.p.A. ("CEME") of EUR 360,000,000 senior secured floating-rate high yield notes, (ii) the entry into a new EUR 67,500,000 revolving credit facility, and (iii) the related security documentation for this transaction. CEME is a leading Italy-based manufacturer of solenoid pumps and valves. Stibbe team: Gerald Origer (Partner), Jean-Marc Delcour (Counsel), Nicolas Pradel (Senior Associate), and Emeline Maricq (Junior Associate) https://stibbe.law/4hWuY7v

PUC - KU Leuven Continue introduceert een nieuwe opleiding speciaal ontworpen voor vastgoedprofessionals die dagelijks met vastgoedcontracten te maken hebben. Aan de hand van de natuurlijke flow van een vastgoedproject worden de juridische aspecten van elke (pre)contractuele fase toegelicht. De opleiding omvat vier halve lesdagen in hartje Brussel en wordt gegeven door Anneleen Quirynen, Elmo Goossens, Michael Barbier en Frederik Van den Abeele van het Real Estate, Construction & Projects-team van Stibbe. 📚 Programma: Sessie 1: Contracteren binnen de vastgoedsector – De basics (28 april) Sessie 2: Optie- en voorkeurcontracten & vastgoedkoop (5 mei) Sessie 3: Aannemings- en architectuurcontracten (12 mei) Sessie 4: Huurcontracten & zakelijke gebruiksrechten (19 mei) 👉 Meer info & inschrijven: https://stibbe.law/3Q1xMEt #Vastgoed #Vastgoedcontracten #PUC #KULeuvencontinue #Opleiding

Our Luxembourg tax team recently presented an in-depth overview of the latest tax reforms and their implications for Luxembourg-based entities and individuals to an engaged audience of industry professionals. Key takeaways included: • Tax reforms for legal entities: codification of the partial liquidation regime, simplification and reduction of the annual minimum net wealth tax, reduction of the corporate income tax rate, and the introduction of an opt-out mechanism for the participation exemption regime. • Workplace attractiveness measures: simplification of the inpatriate tax regime, increase of the thresholds under the profit-sharing scheme, indexation of personal income tax brackets, and the launch of a new regime for young employee bonuses. • New circulars: updates on the VAT treatment of director’s fees and additional guidelines for tax resident certificates for UCIs. This session provided an invaluable opportunity to break down key changes, share strategic insights, and discuss the potential impact on businesses and individuals. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion. We look forward to the next session and more insightful exchanges.