De Brauw acted for Albert Heijn in litigation brought by 250 franchisees, which the claimants previously valued in the hundreds of millions of euros. The Association of Franchisees, together with almost all Albert Heijn franchisees, filed a case on the distribution of costs and revenue as accrued under their franchise contracts since 2008. In an 80-page judgment on 16 November 2016, the court rejected all claims against Albert Heijn. In the court’s opinion, none of the financial claims were firmly rooted in the franchise contracts. The Court advised the parties in an obiter dictum to work out their differences, possibly with the help of a mediator.

Albert Heijn, part of AholdDelhaize, is the leading food retailer in the Netherlands and also has stores in Belgium and Germany.

De Brauw acted as legal counsel to Albert Heijn on this matter. Team: Marnix Leijten (lead partner), Marten Münch, Sebastiaan Kool.