Competition & Regulation

De Brauw advised G Square on the contemplated sale of its portfolio company, the Duomed Group to Palex Medical through execution of a put option agreement. The Duomed Group is a dynamic organization with a well-established reputation and is active in consultancy, sales, integration, training and technical support of medical technology and devices for hospitals and medical practices. The Duomed Group is active in Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, the UK, Serbia and Slovenia. The envisaged transaction would form a truly pan-European platform, providing medical technology equipment and solutions across Northern, Western, and Southern Europe

De Brauw is advising Aquiline Capital Partners on the sale of its stake in Quintes, one of the largest independent insurance brokers in the Netherlands, together with the other shareholders being Gijsbert van de Nieuwegiessen (founder) and key management, to Brown & Brown, Inc.

De Brauw advised Parcom on its acquisition of RECO, a company specializing in rental equipment for the construction, infrastructure, and industrial sectors.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives are now critical drivers for companies – there is no getting around it. Companies often make significant ESG efforts. But when they wish to – or have to – communicate about these efforts, a growing web of regulations becomes relevant. This, coupled with increasingly active authorities who are on the look-out for greenwashing practices, means that it can be hard to establish what is, and what is not, allowed or required. Below, we will summarise the state of play and also look ahead.

The Dutch government has unveiled a new law designed to bolster and regulate the defence and security industry in the Netherlands. The proposed Defence and Security-Related Industry Resilience Act (Defence Resilience Act) is directed at companies active in these industries and contains a number of provisions aimed at improving Dutch armed forces operations. Structured around three major pillars, the act introduces a new sector-specific foreign direct investment (FDI) screening mechanism, lays out a framework for certifying Dutch companies to compete for foreign defence contracts, and draws up measures to enhance the Dutch defence industry's production, innovation and international competitiveness in general. Companies active in defence and security-related sectors can expect changes in M&A processes, new opportunities for international contracts, and a stronger regulatory framework that aligns with EU, US and Canadian standards. This could lead to increased economic activity coupled with more regulatory hurdles and government supervision.

One year after it was first presented to parliament, the long-awaited Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) received royal assent on 24 May 2024, marking a shift in digital, competition and consumer protection regulation in the UK. The DMCCA grants the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expanded powers to regulate the digital sector, scrutinise a broad range of mergers and acquisitions across digital and other markets, enforce consumer protection law, and strengthen competition oversight.